ความรู้ ความตระหนักรู้ และพฤติกรรมการดูแลสุขภาพช่องปากเด็กปฐมวัยของผู้ปกครองในพื้นที่ตำบลดอยลาน อำเภอเมือง จังหวัดเชียงราย

Abstract

The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to investigate parents' knowledge, awareness, and oral health care behaviors of their early childhood, as well as the relationship between parents' demographic factors, knowledge and awareness, and oral health care behaviors of their early childhood, as well as the relationship between parents' oral health care behaviors of their early childhood and dental caries among early childhood in Doi Lan Subdistrict, Mueang District, Chiang Rai province. The study sample included 188 parents of children and 173 early childhood children who were checked for dental caries. There were 151 pairs formed by parents and early childhood children. Data were gathered using a questionnaire and a record of the dental health of early childhood children. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics including number, percentage, mean, and standard deviation, as well as inferential statistics including Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis test, and Spearman rank correlation coefficient. According to the findings, the majority of parents (76.6%) were female, aged 21-40 years (53.7%), had a mother-child relationship (55.3%), had a light level of knowledge about early childhood oral health care (56.4%), had a high level of awareness about early childhood oral health care (62.2%), and had a high level of early childhood oral health care behavior (59.0%). The majority of the early childhood children were male (61.2%) and aged 5 years (42.0%). The prevalence of dental caries was 71.1%, with an average tooth decay, extraction, and filling (dmft) of 4.69 teeth per person. Parents’ demographic factors associated with parents' early childhood oral health care behavior include occupation (p-value = 0.001), education level (p-value = 0.028), average monthly income (p-value = 0.009), and history of oral health training (p-value = 0.001). Knowledge positively correlates with parental oral health care behaviors in early childhood (r = 0.268, p-value < 0.001). Awareness positively correlates with parents' early childhood oral health care behaviors (r = 0.519, p-value < 0.001), while dmft has a negative correlation (r = -0.166, p-value = 0.042). The study's findings show that while parents had a high level of knowledge, awareness, and oral health care behaviors in early childhood, there was also a high prevalence of dental caries and a high rate of tooth decay, extraction, and filling (DMFT). As a result, the operation or development of an oral health care project for young children should be focused on increasing access to dental services. This could be due to a lack of appropriate access to services; children may not have had their oral health checked yet to screen for tooth decay in its early stages, resulting in delayed treatment. All stockholders, including child guardians, teachers, child care workers, community leaders, officials, and public health personnel, should work together to strengthen their power in promoting, preventing, treating, and caring for children's oral health.