Oral Health of Pre-School Aged Children in Dhanbad District, Jharkhand, India-A Peek into their Mother's Attitude

Introduction: Mothers are directly responsible for the dental health of their children and play a major role in shaping the dental health behaviors of their children. They also play an important role in preventing oral diseases in them. Objective: To assess the level of attitude of mothers in relation to their pre-school aged children, which in turn can influence the level of oral health. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 312 mothers, selected randomly from eight blocks of Dhanbad district, Jharkhand, India. They were administered with a structured questionnaire on attitude, by an interviewer. Results: The overall data indicated that the attitude of mothers about oral health in their pre-school children increased as their age increased which was not statistically significant (p>.066). Mothers who had less than higher secondary school education and belonged to socio-economically lower groups had poor knowledge of oral health which was statistically significant (p<.001). Conclusion: Mothers should be motivated so that their attitude about their child's oral health is enhanced which in turn would improve their oral health related quality of life.