Kindergarten Teachers’ Perceived Role in Pre-School Children’s Dental Care – a Qualitative Study

Objectives: This paper reports on kindergarten teachers' perceptions of their role in children's dental care, and their gaps in knowledge and skills in a sample of fee-paying kindergartens in a developing country. Design: Qualitative face to face depth interviews Setting: Fee paying kindergartens in an inner city of a developing country Method: Qualitative face-to-face in-depth interviews up to 60 minutes were undertaken with a purposive sample of 16 teachers, stratified by kindergarten size and fees structure. Salient comments were extracted from verbatim transcripts and sorted into a thematic framework. Results: Some teachers reported elaborate toothbrushing activities while others felt oral hygiene was the parents' or the dentist's responsibility. Varying degrees of strictness in sugar intake regimes were reported. There was no awareness of dietary guidelines although most agreed with a balanced diet. Lack of dental first aid knowledge was widespread, and some reported harmful measures to stop bleeding caused by a dental injury. Kindergarten teachers' perception of their role was shaded by their sensitivity to the parents' and dentists' responsibility, as well as their lack of confidence in dental care, including dental first aid. Conclusion: Collaboration between teachers, parents and dentists is recommended in promoting dental care in kindergartens.