Indigenous Communities’ Recommendations for Promoting Early Childhood Oral Health

Objectives: The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine Indigenous communities’ views and recommendations on promoting early childhood oral health (ECOH) to inform the scaling up of the Healthy Smile Happy Child (HSHC) initiative in First Nations (FN) and Metis communities. This is part of a multi-year oral health promotion campaign to prevent early childhood caries (ECC) and promote ECOH.
Methods: Sharing circles and focus groups were conducted with FN and Metis community members. A total of eight groups were completed with 59 FN and Metis participants in one urban and three rural communities in Manitoba, Canada. Ten semi-structured in-depth questions relevant to ECOH were posed to participants during these sessions. Data were open coded to determine preliminary themes then uploaded to Nvivo 12™ software for additional grounded theory guided thematic analysis.
Results: When asked where they learned about primary teeth and ECOH, the majority said they learned from parents, friends, primary-care providers, prenatal programs, posters, schools, online and from social media. Although respondents did not make immediate connections between culture and oral health, some reported using traditional medicines and had applied teachings from Knowledge Keepers. Respondents recommended information be shared in culturally appropriate ways through already existing community-based prenatal programs, informative visuals/ pamphlets sent by mail, phonecalls to parents, through schools and daycare centers, through in-person workshops and social media. They also recommended distributing creative and inviting oral hygiene supplies that attract and hold children’s attention and encourage adoption of healthy oral hygiene habits.
Conclusions: Interestingly, dental providers were not a regular source of where participants received ECOH information, which may be due to a lack of access to oral health professionals in these communities. The HSHC initiative is now incorporating these culturally-informed recommendations to tailor ECOH promotion activities in FN and Metis communities to address the problem of ECC.