INTRODUCTION:

The children are the most important segment of our population and intend to receive attention from family, school, society and Government.¹

“There is no friendship, no love, and no care, like that of a mother for her child”

Mothers hold a very significant place in child’s life. Mothers should have adequate knowledge and follow hygienic practices that are necessary to make their children free from disease and infection.²

The children has multitude of problems among them one of the most existing problem is related to dental health. Most common dental problems occur among children are dental plaque, cavities, tartar, malocclusion, pyorrhea and gingivitis and gum disease arise from poor oral hygiene.³

Dental caries is a destructive process causing decalcification of enamel and dentin with resulting cavitation of the tooth. Early childhood caries (ECC) is a very common bacterial infection.⁴

Dental plaque is a soft thin layer of food debris and dead epithelial cells that are deposited on the teeth and provides a medium for growth of bacteria.⁵

Calculus or tartar is formed when plaque remains on the teeth and it becomes hardened (calcified).. Pyorrhea refers to pus formation in the socket of teeth.⁵

While dental caries has been regarded as the major dental disease throughout the world affecting the child, malocclusion is only next. Malocclusion (deviation from normal) is condition in which upper jaw of children matures rapidly in early childhood along with skull growth, the lower jaw forms more slowly, which forces teeth to make a prolonged series of changes until they reach their final adult alignment.⁴

Bleeding gums can occur in vitamin –C deficiency, use of hard and stiff brush for brushing the teeth. Gingivitis is defined as inflammation of gums.⁵

Common causes of dental problems among children are certain bacteria, frequent ingestion of raw sugar, candies, chocolate, and less than optimal exposure to fluorides to prevent tooth decay or excessive use of fluoride, cultural, social and economic influences on oral health such as dietary practices, home care and beliefs about primary teeth and poor dental hygiene.⁶

Common sign and symptoms of dental problems are white spot or lines appears on teeth, pain in gums, gum swelling and sensitivity, foul smelling from mouth, discolouration of teeth, low-grade fever, refusing food, rubbing of ears and cheeks, pyorrhoea, difficulty in eating, Irritability or fussiness, sleep problems and urge to bite on hard objects.⁶

The goal of WHO “Health for all by the year 2025” includes oral health also. WHO expert committee on dental health education emphasized that oral hygiene practices have fundamental importance to achieve goals of oral hygiene.⁷

Family members, especially mothers, are the primary source of information for children and she is directly responsible for the dental health of their offspring and can play an important role in preventing oral diseases in children. They clean teeth of their children, teach them proper hygiene and dietary habits and organize professional dental care. Mother’s knowledge and positive attitude toward good dental care are very important in the preventive cycle.⁸

RESEARCH PROBLEM:

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).

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

· To assess the knowledge and practices of mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among the children.

· To find correlation between knowledge and practices of mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among the children.

· To find association of knowledge and practices of mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among the children with selected demographic variables like age, education, occupation, type of family, family income, number of children and source of information.

· To prepare guidelines on the prevention and management of dental problems among the children.

ASSUMPTION:

Mothers with higher education have more knowledge and healthy practices regarding prevention of dental problems among the children.

METHODOLOGY:

Research approach:

A quantitative research approach was used for the present study.

Research design:

A non experimental descriptive design was considered appropriate for the study.

Research setting:

The present study was conducted in the village Sataur, district Hoshiarpur Punjab.

Variables:

Independent variables:

Age, education, occupation, type of family, family income, number of children and source of information.

Dependent variable:

Knowledge and practices of mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among the children.

Target population:

mothers of children of the age group 2-12 years residing in village Sataur, district Hoshiarpur, Punjab.

Sample and sampling technique:

80 mothers of children of age group 2-12 years residing in village Sataur, district Hoshiarpur, Punjab were selected. Convenient sampling technique was used to select the sample.

Criteria for sample selection:

Inclusion Criteria:

·Mothers of age > 18 years.

·Mothers of children of age group 2-12 years.

Exclusion Criteria:

·Mothers who were not willing to participate in the study.

·Mothers who were chronically ill.

Description of tools:

The tools for this study was divided into three sections:

Section A- This section includes demographic data of study subjects and included seven items i.e. age, education, occupation, type of family, family income, number of children and source of information.

Section B- Structured questionnaire to assess the knowledge of mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among the children. This section consists of 30 multiple choice questions. Each correct answer contain score 1 and incorrect answer contain 0 marks. Total score was obtained by adding individual item score.

Maximum score= 30

Minimum score= 0

Criterion measure for assessment of knowledge was as following:

Table 1

Level of knowledge	Score (%)
Good	> 23	(> 75%)
Average	15–23	(50- 75%)
Poor	< 15	(< 50%)

Section C- This section include checklist to assess the practices of mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among children. Total items were 14. Score 1 is given for each right practice and 0 for wrong practice.

Maximum score= 14

Minimum score= 0

Criterion measure for assessment of practices was as following:

Table 2

Level of practices	Score (%)
Good	> 11	(> 75%)
Average	7- 11	(50- 75%)
Poor	< 7	(< 50%)

Pilot study:

Pilot study was conducted on 8 mothers of children of age group 2-12 years of village Baghpur of Distt. Hoshiarpur (Punjab).

Validity of the tools:

The content validity of the tool was determined by the experts’ opinion.

Ethical considerations:

A written approval was taken from ethical committee of college for conducting the study. A written permission was also obtained from the sarpanch of the village Sataur. Written consent was taken from the mothers of children between the age group 2-12 years who were willing to participate in the study.

Reliability of tools:

Reliability of structured questionnaire and structured checklist was determined by split half technique and test retest method respectively and computed by using Karl Pearson’s co-efficient of correlation formula. The reliability of questionnaire was 0.89 and reliability of checklist 0.92. Hence, the tools were reliable to conduct the study.

Data collection procedure:

Data collection procedure was carried out in month of December, 2012 to January, 2013. The total sample consisted of 80 mothers of children of age group 2-12 years were selected by using convenient sampling technique. The researcher visited house to house for data collection. The researcher introduced herself to the respondents and explained about the nature and importance of the study. Then tool was given to the respondents to fill the responses and it was collected after an hour from them. They were assured that their responses would be kept confidential and used only for research purpose.

Plan of data analysis:

Analysis of data was done in accordance with the objectives. The data analysis was done by using the descriptive and inferential statistics.

MAJOR FINDINGS:

Major findings were summarized as follow:

Findings related to the demographic variables:

· More than half of the subjects i.e. 61.25% were in age group of 21-30 years and minority of subjects i.e. 5% were in age more than 40 years.

· More than one fourth of the mothers i.e. 37.5% were educated upto senior secondary education level and only a fraction i.e. 1.25% mothers were educated upto primary and above graduation level.

· Majority of the subjects i.e. 70% were non-working and one third i.e. 30% were working.

· More than half of subjects i.e. 57.5% were from nuclear family and rest of subjects i.e. 42.5% were from joint family.

· Maximum subjects i.e. 42.5% had family income in-between Rs. 5001-10,000 per month and minimum i.e. 12.5% had family income less than or equal to Rs. 5000 per month.

· More than half of mothers i.e. 60% had two children and very few subjects i.e. 1.25% had more than 3 children.

· Approximately half of subjects i.e. 46.25% had T.V and radio as source of information and only 7.5% had family members, relatives and friends as source of information.

Findings related to the knowledge of the mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among the children:

Maximum 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.

Findings related to the practices of mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among the children:

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.

Findings related to the correlation between knowledge and practices of mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among the children:

The mean knowledge score and mean practice score of mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among the children showed highly positive correlation i.e. 0.8046.

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 regarding the prevention of dental problems among the children. It depicts that the education and type of family had impact on the knowledge of mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among the children.

· There was statically non significant association of age, occupation, family income, number of children and source of information with knowledge of mothers regarding the prevention of dental problems among the children. It depicts that age, occupation, family income, number of children and source of information had no impact on the knowledge of mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among the children.

Findings related to the association of practices of mothers with demographic variables:

· There was statically significant association between the education and practices of mothers regarding the prevention of dental problems among the children. It depicts that the education had impact on the practices of mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among the children.

· There was statically non significant association of age, occupation, type of family, family income, number of children and source of information with practices of mothers regarding the prevention of dental problems among the children. It depicts that age, occupation, type of family, family income, number of children and source of information had no impact on the practices of mothers regarding prevention of dental problems among the children.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

My study is dedicated to almighty God, my research guide and my beloved parents.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT:

Self

REFERENCES:

1. Pandey K. Health profile of school children in Bhaktapur, Kathmandu University. Medical Journal Oct 2005; 3(11):274-280.

2. Amanda W. The need for the continued health care support to the mothers. Indian Journal of Pediatrics Health. 2003; 8 (2):97-99.

3. Spradley A, Williams & Wilkins. Community Health Nursing Promoting and Projecting the public Health. 6 edit. New Delhi: Lippincott company, 2005; Pp-405-7.

4. Ghai O.P. Essential pediatrics. 6^thed. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Publishers, 2000; Pp-289-92.

5. Sr. Nancy. Principles and practice of nursing. 6^th ed. Indore: N.R Brothers Publishers, 2008 Pp-242-45.

6. Prevention of dental problems, http://medind.nic.in/jao/t10/i4/jaot10i4p 282.htm/ reviewed on 12/11/2012.

7. World Health Organization. Dental health report, http://www.who.int/dhe/en/ reviewed on 7/3/ 2012.

8. Hinds K, Gregory JR. National diet and nutrition survey: Children aged 11/2 to 4 ½ years. Nightingale Nursing Times Sep2006; 2(2):49-54.

Received on 05.03.2016 Modified on 25.04.2016

Int. J. Adv. Nur. Management. 2016; 4(3): 194-198.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2652.2016.00045.7