Caregiver Oral Health Characteristics and Child Untreated Caries Status

Objectives: To compare parent/caregiver self-reported oral health (OH) behaviors, dental cavities/gum disease, and overall OH rating between children with and without decay.
Methods: This study is part of a larger clinical trial investigating the influence of medical provider-level (theory-based didactic education and skills training to communicate OH facts) and practice-level (EMR OH documentation) interventions on dental attendance among 3-6-year-old Medicaid enrolled children. The study sample of 1021 parents/caregivers completed questionnaires to collect socio-demographics and assess their dental visits, OH behaviors, perceived rating of their OH, and presence of cavities and gum disease. Their children received an International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) exam to assess decay (lesion code ≥ 3) at the study visit. Descriptive and bivariate analysis was conducted.
Results: Caregivers were 44% Black, 95% non-Hispanic, 90% female, 55% with ＞high school education, 66% unmarried, and mean age of 31.4 ± 7.48 years. Caregivers reported as follows: 83% had a dental visit in the past two years; 72% see a dentist at least every two years; 97% brushed at least once/day; 50% flossed daily; 49% rated their OH good/very good; 44% reported cavities in the past year; and 22% reported gum disease. Based on the ICDAS exam, 29% of the children had decay. A higher percent of children with decay had parents/caregivers who are Black (33% vs 26%, p=0.015), went to the dentist only when needed (35% vs 27%, p=.025), reported having cavities in the past year (34% vs 26%, p=.006), and rated their own oral health as very poor/poor/fair (34% vs 24%, p=.0007).
Conclusions: Parents/caregivers of children with untreated decay can benefit from interventions that address factors related to their own OH experience as well as those of their children.