A Descriptive Study to Assess the Knowledge and Practices of Mothers Regarding Prevention of Dental Problems among the Children in Selected Rural Area of District Hoshiarpur (Punjab)

Background of study: The children has multitude of problems among them one of the most existing problem is related to dental health. Good dental hygiene and regular attention to prevention of dental problems is vital part of health supervision during this period. Objectives: The main objective of the study was to assess the knowledge and practices of mothers regarding the prevention of dental problems among the children in selected rural area of district Hoshiarpur (Punjab). Materials and methods: A community based descriptive study was conducted on mothers in selected rural area of district Hoshiarpur (Punjab) to assess the knowledge and practices of mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among the children. The self structured questionnaire to assess the knowledge of mothers and self structured checklist to assess the practices of mothers were administered to 80 mothers, residing in village Sataur of district Hoshiarpur, Punjab who agreed to participate in the study and also meet the study criteria. Findings: Results regarding the knowledge showed that majority of the subjects i.e. 65% had average knowledge followed by 28.75% subjects had good knowledge and few subjects i.e. 6.25% had poor knowledge regarding prevention of dental problems among the children. As per practices majority of subjects i.e. 71.25% had average practices where as 21.25% subjects had good practices and remaining 7.5% subjects had poor practices regarding prevention of dental problems among the children. The correlation between the knowledge and practices was found highly positive i.e. 0.8046. As per findings related to the association of knowledge of mothers with demographic variables, there was statically significant association of education and type of family with knowledge of mothers where as there was statically non significant association of other selected variables with knowledge of mothers regarding the prevention of dental problems among the children. As per findings related to the association of practices of mothers with demographic variables, there was statically significant association between the education and the practices of mothers but statically non significant association was found between the other selected variables and practices of mothers regarding the prevention of dental problems among the children. Conclusion: The study revealed that majority of subjects i.e. 65% and 71.25% had average knowledge and average practices regarding prevention of dental problems among the children respectively.