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CC BY 4.0 · Journal of Health and Allied Sciences NU 2024; 14(03): 410-415
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1776130
Original Article

Evaluation of Parental Attitudes toward and Awareness of Oral Health in Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Amarshree A. Shetty
1   Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, A B Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Deralakatte, Mangalore, Karnataka, India
,
Kavita Rai
1   Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, A B Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Deralakatte, Mangalore, Karnataka, India
,
Deepshikha Mehrotra
6   Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, D.Y. Patil School of Dentistry, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Shipha Hegde
2   Department of Prosthodontics and Crown and Bridge, A B Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Deralakatte, Mangalore, Karnataka, India
,
Kumara Kumara
3   I.A.S, Dakshina Kannada, Zilla Panchayat, Mangalore, Karnataka, India
,
U.S. Krishna Nayak
4   Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Principal and Dean, A B Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Deralakatte, Mangalore, Karnataka, India
,
Cynthia D'Souza
5   Nitte Special Child Care Centre, Affiliated to Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, A B Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Deralakatte, Mangalore, Karnataka, India
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Abstract

Background Children are one of the most vulnerable groups to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and depend on their parents to supervise and maintain oral hygiene. During this pandemic, disease prevention through education and awareness of the parents is the only way to maintain a child's oral health; therefore, parents must have sufficient knowledge about the ongoing pandemic and its consequences on the oral cavity. This study aims to assess the parental attitudes toward and awareness of oral health of healthy children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methodology A questionnaire was circulated between May and September 2020 using simple random sampling of the parents of children aged between 6 and 12 years. The questions were close ended and divided into awareness and attitude-based sections so that the parents could choose the appropriate answer.

Results and Conclusion In the present study, 50% of the participating parents had the right attitude in challenging times like the pandemic and appropriate knowledge about the same.

Keywords

parental awareness - COVID-19 - Oral health - Children

Authors' Contributions

This manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors and the requirements for authorship as stated earlier in this document have been met, and each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work.




Publication History

Article published online:
15 November 2023

© 2023. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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