IADR Abstract Archives
Promotion of Infant Oral Health Knowledge of Hong Kong Parents
Objectives: To promote the knowledge and awareness of infant oral health (OH) care among Hong Kong parents with children aged 0 to 2 years through an interactive workshop and to evaluate its effectiveness.
Methods: Parents were recruited from government-registered childcare centers and private playgroups. Interactive workshops consisted of a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation and 20 minutes of small-group activities, which included infant oral hygiene instruction with custom-made infant dentition models, diet analysis and question-and-answer session. Self-completed questionnaires used to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of parents were distributed before and after the workshops. Scores on general OH knowledge (range = 0-18), infant OH knowledge (0-10) and parent’s attitude (0-4) were computed. Scores over 70% were considered proficient. Paired t-tests were used to compare the change in the scores before and after the workshops.
Results: Altogether 7 workshops were conducted. Among the 111 participants (aged 26 to 54 years, 64% mothers), 75% had only one child aged 0 to 2 years. Before the workshop, 41% had proficient general OH knowledge (mean =11.9) and 16% had proficient infant OH knowledge (mean = 4.8). Over half of parents showed positive attitude (mean = 3.4). Significant improvements in general OH knowledge (mean = 15.6, p<0.001), infant OH knowledge (mean = 8.8, p<0.001) and attitude (mean = 3.9, p<0.001) were found. Parents reflected the workshops were useful (94%) and learned new practices to improve their infants’ OH (95%).
Conclusions: The interactive workshop can effectively promote the knowledge and awareness of infant oral health care among parents with children aged 0 to 2 years in Hong Kong.
Methods: Parents were recruited from government-registered childcare centers and private playgroups. Interactive workshops consisted of a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation and 20 minutes of small-group activities, which included infant oral hygiene instruction with custom-made infant dentition models, diet analysis and question-and-answer session. Self-completed questionnaires used to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of parents were distributed before and after the workshops. Scores on general OH knowledge (range = 0-18), infant OH knowledge (0-10) and parent’s attitude (0-4) were computed. Scores over 70% were considered proficient. Paired t-tests were used to compare the change in the scores before and after the workshops.
Results: Altogether 7 workshops were conducted. Among the 111 participants (aged 26 to 54 years, 64% mothers), 75% had only one child aged 0 to 2 years. Before the workshop, 41% had proficient general OH knowledge (mean =11.9) and 16% had proficient infant OH knowledge (mean = 4.8). Over half of parents showed positive attitude (mean = 3.4). Significant improvements in general OH knowledge (mean = 15.6, p<0.001), infant OH knowledge (mean = 8.8, p<0.001) and attitude (mean = 3.9, p<0.001) were found. Parents reflected the workshops were useful (94%) and learned new practices to improve their infants’ OH (95%).
Conclusions: The interactive workshop can effectively promote the knowledge and awareness of infant oral health care among parents with children aged 0 to 2 years in Hong Kong.