Level of oral health knowledge of caregivers and its relationship with the oral health status of their children in a health center in Lima, Peru.

Objectives: To assess the level of oral health knowledge among caregivers and its relationship with the oral health status of children aged 3 to 6 years attending a health center in Lima, Peru. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted involving 70 children aged 3 to 6 years and their respective caregivers, who attended a health center in Lima, Peru. The children's oral health status was evaluated using the DMFT/dmft and OHI-S indices. A validated questionnaire, assessed by expert judgment, was used to measure caregivers' oral health knowledge. Results: A total of 58.6% of caregivers demonstrated a medium level of oral health knowledge. Among the children, 41.4% had a very low DMFT/dmft score, and 58.6% had a good OHI-S score. No statistically significant differences were found between the questionnaire responses and caregivers' sociodemographic characteristics. Furthermore, no association was observed between children's oral health status and the level of knowledge of their caregivers (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The children presented good oral health, and caregivers showed a medium level of knowledge. No relationship was found between caregivers' level of knowledge and their children's oral health status in the studied sample.