Participants should be aware of the following financial/non-financial relationships: . Amrita Geevarghese, BDS, MPH, DPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Francisco Ramos-Gomez, D.D.S., M.S., M.P.H.: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. BONNIE JUE, DDS: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Stuart Gansky, MS, DrPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Abstract: Background: There is an increasing acknowledgment that a child’s oral health is shaped by broader psychosocial, economic, and environmental conditions. Aim: To assess the correlation of psychosocial factors on the oral hygiene of children by examining the parental self-efficacy and motivation. Methods: Methods: Structured interviews were conducted with mothers of children under 4 years old who participated in the BEhavioral EConomics for Oral health iNnovation (BEECON) trial. Oral screenings were performed in accordance with the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors’ (ASTDD’s) Basic Screening Survey (BSS). A modification of the Debris Index of the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index1 using only maxillary incisors (OHI-MIS) was used to measure the plaque levels. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) tool was used to identify correlates of plaque in a multiple linear regression model. Results: A total of 267 child-caregiver dyads participated in this study and the mean (±SD) plaque scores for the participating children was 2.09±0.68. The mean plaque score was negatively correlated with caregiver’s attitude towards snacking, attitude towards brushing and self-efficacy. Motivation towards oral hygiene was positively correlated with the mean plaque scores. In the final model a statistically significant association was observed between brushing frequency and the mean plaque score (95% CI = -0.38, -0.05; P =0.011). Conclusion: This study presents evidences that highlight the complex interaction of the individual and family level factors on oral hygiene of the child.
Source of Funding: Research reported was supported by the National Institute Of Dental & Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers UH2/UH3DE025514 and U01DE025507. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Affiliations: Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
2 Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America, Center to Address Disparities in Children’s Oral Health, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America, Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America, Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
