Oral Health of Latino and Ethiopian Children and Their Mothers

Methods: Two focus groups of Latino and two of Ethiopian mothers of young children were conducted in Washington D.C. (n=38) in Spring 2009 at Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care, Inc. Focus group discussions were audiotaped, transcribed, translated into English, and analyzed for common themes using QSR NVivo. These qualitative findings will be contrasted with quantitative findings from a) oral health examinations conducted in Winter 2010 with 150 pairs of mothers and 0-5 year old children, and b) 300 interviews conducted with mothers of 0-5 year old children in Summer 2011.

Results: Latino and Ethiopian mothers shared positive attitudes towards oral health: they ranked oral health as a high priority and disagree with “all kids will eventually get caries”. Most participants agreed that dental visits should be every six months. Both Latina and Ethiopian mothers were advised by the child's pediatrician to take their children to the dentist. Mothers did not have knowledge about caries etiology, fluoride, and dental sealants, and were unclear about when to start cleaning children's mouth. Latino mothers were more likely than Ethiopians to identify links between poor oral health and medical problems or social consequences. Latino mothers were also more likely to indicate that children's oral health status was the parents' responsibility. Ethiopian mothers indicated less utilization of dental services.

Conclusion: While oral health knowledge was low for most mothers, their attitudes towards oral health were positive. No major differences were found between Latino and Ethiopian mothers.