An Influence of Attitude toward Dental Health by Mothers on Their Children with Respect to Dental Caries

어머니의 구강보건태도가 자녀의 우식영구치수에 미치는 영향

The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of attitude of mothers on the dental health and behavior of dental health management on children on the dental caries of their children, and the questionnaire survey was implemented and analyzed for 202 children in fifth and sixth grades of two elementary schools in Ulsan City along with their mothers with the following outcome. 1. 80 students from entire subject students(39.6%) are subjects of dental caries with the average DT index shown to be $1.78{\pm}1.04$ and tended to have higher in the upper level of grade. 2. In the attitude of dental health management for mother, 95 students(47.0%) visited the dental clinic within 6 months with the main purpose of treatment, rather than preventive work, for 141 students(69.8%), and hey have high level of interests on the teeth condition of their children but they rarely take a close look at the dental condition for their children. 3. The efforts of mothers on preventing the dental caries by mothers showed in the sequence of regular instructions for brushing, limiting the sugar intake, fluorine coating, sealant, regular examination and the like and DT rate will be decreased by these kinds(p<0.05). 4. The number of dental caries of children with the attitude of mother in dental health showed noticeable differences statistically with respect to the brushing method, use of dental sanitation goods, scaling, visit to dental office and others(p<0.05). With the above conclusion, the attitude and behavior of mothers on dental care influences greatly on the dental health of children. Therefore, in order to improve the dental health of children, it would be important to recognize the importance of attitude and behavior of dental health for mothers for positive dental care with the support in policies.