Preventive
Sherri Chyi, DDS
Pediatric Dental Resident
Children’s Hospital of Michigan -— Detroit Medical Center, Detroit, MI
Urbandale, Iowa, United States
John Warren, DDS, MS
The University of Iowa College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics
James P. Stenger, DDS, MS
Pediatric Dentistry Residency Program Director
Children's Hospital of Michigan - Detroit Medical Center
Hazel Park, Michigan, United States
Basam Shamo, DDS
Children's Hospital of Michigan
Sterling Heights, Michigan, United States
Objectives: Children from low-income families have a higher risk of having poor oral health. The purpose of this study was to assess factors related to access to toothpaste and toothpaste use patterns in children from low-income families.
Methods: The study was conducted at The Children’s Dental Specialist Clinic in Hazel Park, Michigan. Parents of children 0-5 years of age were recruited in the waiting rooms and asked to complete a questionnaire regarding one of their children. The questionnaire included items regarding frequency of toothbrushing, whether toothpaste was used when their child's teeth was brushed, if they had trouble obtaining toothbrushes or toothpaste due to cost, and knowledge of fluoride. Data from the collected questionnaires were entered into Excel and used to generate descriptive statistics in SPSS. Chi-square tests were done to assess relationships between regular brushing and independent variables
Results: A total of 151 questionnaires were completed. Children’s age ranged from 8 months-5years. Many of the respondents (62%) had an education level of high school graduate or less. 24% of respondents were not sure what fluoride was and 18% believed that fluoride was harmful. 98% of respondents reported that they use toothpaste but 61% of the children used large or very large amounts of toothpaste. Bivariate analyses found that parents who did not know what fluoride was were significantly (P < .05) more likely to brush their child’s teeth with very large or large amounts of toothpaste, less likely to think brushing was important and less likely to have an adult involved in brushing.
Conclusion: Amount of toothpaste use, and lack of knowledge for fluoride appears to be a significant problem in this lower income population. Inadequate brushing appears to be related to lack of knowledge about toothpaste and fluoride.