Parents’ Attitude towards the Use of Fluorides and Fissure Sealants and its Effect on their Children’s Oral Health

Objectives: To characterize the attitudes of Israeli parents towards caries preventive measures. Study design: participating parents completed a 21-item questionnaire on their demographics, dental history, attitudes and satisfaction from fluorides and fissure sealants. Results: One hundred parents (average age 41.62±4.9 years, 85 females) participated. Most of the parents (88% of the mothers and 84% of the fathers) had an academic education. Most of the parents (54%) had a favorable attitude towards the use of fluoridated gels, while only 37% of them had a positive opinion regarding fluoridated water. The satisfaction levels were very high regarding fissure sealants, fluoridated mouth rinses and fluoridated gels (78.1%, 73.6% and 72.5% respectively). The satisfaction from fluoridated water was split almost equally (50.8% were ‘pleased’ and 49.2% ‘not pleased’). The main source for parental oral health knowledge was the dentist (83%). Parents' attitude towards caries preventive measures was significantly correlated to their gender, dental experience, level of education and the number of children in the family. Conclusions: positive attitude towards caries preventive measures was found among parents with higher awareness for preventive oral health measures and among bigger families. Mothers were more positive about fissure sealants than fathers. Mothers with up to 12 years of education tended to have a positive opinion regarding water fluoridation.

Fluorides, sealants, parents attitudes

1. Gussy MG, Waters EB, Riggs EM, Lo SK, Kilpatrick NM. Parental knowledge, beliefs and for oral health of toddlers residing in rural Victoria. Aust Dent J 53(1):52-60, 2008.

2. Adair SM. Evidence-based use of fluoride in contemporary pediatric dental practice. Pediatr Dent 28(2):133-42, 2006.

3. Newbrun E. Effectiveness of water fluoridation. J Public Health Dent49(5):279-89, 1989.

4. Ahovuo-Saloranta A, Forss H, Walsh T, Hiiri A, Nordblad A, Mäkelä M, Worthington HV. Sealants for preventing dental decay in the permanent teeth. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 28;3, 2013.

5. http://www.health.gov.il/subjects/dental_health/information/pages/flou-ride-2015.aspx.

6. Fisher-Owens SA, Gansky SA, Platt LJ, Weintraub JA, Soobader MJ, Bramlett MD, Newacheck PW. Influences on children’s oral health: a conceptual model. Pediatrics 120(3):e510-20, 2007.

7. Blinkhorn AS. Promoting dietary changes in order to control dental caries. Dent Health 29:3-6, 1991.

8. Lenčová E, Dušková J. Oral health attitudes and caries-preventive behaviour of Czech parents of preschool children. Acta Med Acad 42(2):209-15, 2013.

9. Chhabra N, Chhabra A. Parental knowledge, attitudes and cultural beliefs regarding oral health and dental care of preschool children in an Indian population: a quantitative study. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent 13(2):76-82, 2012.

10. Prabhu A, Rao AP, Reddy V, Ahamed SS, Muhammad S, Thayumanavan S. Parental knowledge of pre-school child oral health. J Community Health 38(5):880-4, 2013.

11. Clarkson JJ, McLoughlin J. Role of fluoride in oral health promotion. Int Dent J 50(3):119-28, 2000.

12. Vered Y, Sgan-Cohen HD. The fight over water fluoridation in Israel—potential modes of action in light of the “American experience”. J Public Health Dent 62(2):67-9, 2002.

13. Griffin M, Shickle D, Moran N. European citizens’ opinions on water fluoridation. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 36(2):95-102, 2008.

14. Crall JJ, Donly KJ. Dental sealants guidelines development: 2002-2014. Pediatr Dent 37(2):111-5, 2015.

15. Mafeni JO, Messer LB. Parental knowledge and attitudes towards pit and fissure sealants. Aust Dent J 39(3):172-80, 1994.

16. Begzati A, Bytyci A, Meqa K, Latifi-Xhemajli B, Berisha M. Mothers’ behaviours and knowledge related to caries experience of their children. Oral Health Prev Dent 12(2):133-40, 2014.

17. Sujlana A, Pannu PK. Family related factors associated with caries prev-alence in the primary dentition of five-year-old children. J Indian Soc Pedod Prev Dent 33(2):83-7, 2015.