Mohammad Ali Leghari, Farzeen Tanwir, Humera Ali.
Association of Dental Caries and Parents Knowledge of Oral Health, A Cross-sectional Survey of Schools of Karachi, Pakistan.
J Pak Dent Assoc Jan ;23(1):19-24.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of oral health knowledge of parents in relation to dental caries of their children. METHODOLOGY: This cross sectional study was undertaken in Malir Town, Karachi. Oral examination of 399 school going children enrolled in local private schools was carr ied out to assess their dental caries status. A Self-administered questionnaire was used to gauge oral health knowledge of parents. RESULTS: Study sample comprised of 49% boys and 51% girls. The prevalence of dental caries was 70 % with a mean DMFT score of 1.4. was significantly higher among girls compared to boys. The dental caries increased as the age increased from 12 year age to 15 year. Parents were aware that regular visits to dentist can prevent dental caries but there were large numbers of parents who visited dentist when there was the pain in teeth. CONCLUSION: The current study found that female students had relatively higher odds of dental caries than compare to males. Parent’s knowledge of oral hygiene had effect on their children oral health. Oral health programmes should be performed in future for the oral health care awareness for both children and their parents.

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