Observed child and parent toothbrushing behaviors and child oral health

BACKGROUND: Although largely preventable through diet management and topical fluoride use, early childhood caries (ECC) often progresses to severity that necessitates surgical repair. Yet repair often fails to mitigate caries progression. Needed is an effective behavioral intervention to address underlying behavioral causes. METHODS: This randomized controlled trial will evaluate the efficacy of a behaviorally focused, family-centered intervention, the MySmileBuddy Program (MSB Program), to reduce ECC progression in high-risk preschoolers in New York City...

BACKGROUND: Parent-led toothbrushing effectively reduces early childhood caries. Research on the strategies that parents use to promote this behavior is, however, lacking. AIM: To examine associations between parent-child toothbrushing interactions and child oral health using a newly developed measure, the Toothbrushing Observation System (TBOS). DESIGN: One hundred children ages 18-60 months and their parents were video-recorded during toothbrushing interactions...

UNLABELLED: 'Tooth worm' is a traditional belief about the pathogen of dental caries (tooth decay). Nevertheless, in our previous study, parental 'tooth worm' belief was linked to a reduced caries risk of their children. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to further characterize the impact of parental 'tooth worm' belief on their children's caries experience and its psychobehavioural mechanisms. BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN: analytic observational study...

BACKGROUND: This study compares oral health outcomes and behaviours for young Australian children by residential state or territory to determine whether state differences arise from individual exposures to risk factors. METHODS: Cross-sectional data for 4606 2-3 year olds and 4464 6-7 year olds were obtained from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Outcome measures were parent-reports of children's caries experience, frequency of toothbrushing and dental services use...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine if frequency of tooth cleaning varies with social group, family size, bedtime and other personal hygiene habits among school children. METHODS: Target population comprised schoolchildren aged 8-16 years of Udaipur district attending public schools. A two stage cluster random sampling procedure was executed to collect the representative sample, consequently final sample size accounted to 852 children. Data were collected by means of structured questionnaires which consisted of questions related to oral hygiene habits including a few general hygiene habits, bed time, family size, family income and dental visiting habits...

This paper describes the dental health status of Italian 4-year-olds in 2004/2005 and analyzes the association between caries in preschool children and some background characteristics in children and parents. Caries was recorded according to WHO criteria. 5,538 subjects were examined. Information on the children's and their parents' social, behavioral, ethnic and demographic status was obtained through a series of closed questions. Bivariate analysis was performed to investigate the association between caries and background characteristics...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and severity of dental fluorosis in children aged 7-9 years from non-water-fluoridated Halmstad, Sweden, and to relate the results to their reported fluoride exposure history during infancy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In Spring 2002, a questionnaire distributed to a cluster random sample of 1039 parents enquired into their child's early oral health behaviors and included a "photographic toothpaste menu". The permanent upper anterior teeth (13-23) were examined clinically (+10% repeats) using a modified Thylstrup-Fejerskov Index...

This study compares dental caries reduction in Belgian 12-year-old children of different socioeconomic status in 1983 and 1998. Moreover, the relative effect of dental health factors on caries reduction is estimated. In the region of Brussels, children in the 7th grade at the same schools participated in cohort 1983 (n = 533) and in cohort 1998 (n = 496). DMFT, DMFS, and dental fluorosis were clinically recorded. The socioeconomic status of the children was established on the basis of their parents' education and profession...

Our aim was to describe socio-economic and behavioural factors related to caries experience in school children in Sassari, Sardinia (Italy). Four hundred and three 12-year-old schoolchildren were randomly selected and their teeth clinically examined after air drying, under standard light using a plain mirror and WHO community periodontal index for treatment needs (CPITN) ballpoint probe. The clinical DMFS index was recorded following a diagnostic threshold, CPITN following the WHO indications. A questionnaire concerning oral hygiene habits (OHH), the onset of toothbrushing habits (OTH), frequency of dental check-ups (DCU), sweet food and soft drink consumption and socio-economic background factors, i...

BACKGROUND: The authors investigated the association between socioeconomic status and the severity of dental caries in 6- and 7-year-old children who had had access to dental care throughout their lives. The children had lived since birth in Nova Scotia, Canada, a province with a universal publicly financed dental care program. METHODS: The authors selected a representative sample of first-grade children using a stratified multistage sampling method of primary schools (n = 1,614)...

PURPOSE: This study was performed to assess the actual amount of dentifrice used and ingested and factors associated with use/ingestion among 28 U.S. preschoolers aged 40 to 48 months. METHODS: Using their regular dentifrice brands/flavors and small child-sized toothbrushes (Oral -B 5), the participants or their parents placed dentifrice on toothbrushes three times to assess the quantity used and its consistency. Their brushing behaviors were observed and the amounts of dentifrice ingested were indirectly measured...

The aim of this study was threefold: first, to assess the oral health of Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese, Dutch and "other" 5-yr-old children living in Amsterdam; second, to identify risk indicators for caries, in addition to ethnicity; and third, to identify potential risk factors related to differences in caries experience in these children. Results showed the mean dmfs scores of Turkish and Moroccan children to be much higher than that of the Dutch and Surinamese children; 8.1 and 8.2 versus 3.6 and 3.4, respectively...