Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Pediatr. Feb 8, 2016; 5(1): 112-117
Published online Feb 8, 2016. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v5.i1.112
Dental knowledge and awareness among grandparents
Jyoti Oberoi, Rahul Kathariya, Anup Panda, Iti Garg, Sonal Raikar
Jyoti Oberoi, Anup Panda, Department of Paediatrics and Preventive Dentistry, Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil Dental College and Hospital, Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400614, Maharashtra, India
Rahul Kathariya, Department of Periodontology, Dr. D.Y. Patil Dental College and Hospital, Pune 411018, Maharashtra, India
Iti Garg, Department of Paediatrics and Preventive Dentistry, A.C.P.M. Dental College and Hospital, Dhule 424001, Maharashtra, India
Sonal Raikar, Department of Prosthodontics, Dr. D.Y. Patil Dental School, Lohegaon, Pune 412105, Maharashtra, India
Author contributions: Oberoi J contributed to the principal investigator, data collection, classification, and compilation; Kathariya R made the contributions to drafting of article, statistical analysis, formatting, and revising it critically for important intellectual content and made the final approval of the version to be submitted; Panda A conceived, guided and design of the study; Garg I, as the secondary investigator, made the classification, and acquisition of data; Raikar S revised and read the final version.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the Institutional Scientific and Ethics committee, and reviewed by the Institutional Review Board of Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil Dental College and Hospital, Nerul, Navi Mumbai- 400614, Maharashtra India, With the Ethics Clearance Number: 2013-2014/ 5/1301.
Informed consent statement: Participation in the study was voluntary. The grandparents, who volunteered to take part in the study, signed a consent form. The questionnaire was translated into a local language for ease of understanding. The questionnaire was read for the grandparents who could not read and their answers were recorded. The questionnaires were completed in the waiting area prior to the patient’s appointments.
Conflict-of-interest statement: I confirm that the manuscript is original and has not been published elsewhere. Nor is it sent to any other journals for consideration. The manuscript in its submitted form has been read and approved by all authors. There is no financial relationship between any author and any commercial firm(s), which may pose a potential, perceived, or real conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: Study participants gave informed consent for data sharing. Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset are available with the corresponding author at rkathariya@gmail.com.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Rahul Kathariya, MDS, PhD, Department of Periodontology, Dr. D.Y. Patil Dental College and Hospital, Dr. D Y Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune 411018, Maharashtra, India. rkathariya@gmail.com
Telephone: +91-89-83370741 Fax: +91-20-27423427
Received: March 25, 2015
Peer-review started: March 26, 2015
First decision: June 3, 2015
Revised: August 6, 2015
Accepted: October 16, 2015
Article in press: October 17, 2015
Published online: February 8, 2016
Processing time: 309 Days and 13.8 Hours
Abstract

AIM: To investigate grandparent’s knowledge and awareness about the oral health of their grandchildren.

METHODS: Grandparents accompanying patients aged 4-8 years, who were living with their grandchildren and caring for them for a major part of the day, when both their parents were at work were included in the study. A 20-item questionnaire covering socio-demographic characteristics, dietary and oral hygiene practices was distributed to them. The sample comprised of 200 grandparents (59 males, 141 females). χ2 analysis and Gamma test of symmetrical measures were applied to assess responses across respondent gender and level of education.

RESULTS: Oral health related awareness was found to be low among grandparents. In most questions asked, grandparents with a higher level of education exhibited a better knowledge about children's oral health. Level of awareness was not related to their gender.

CONCLUSION: Oral hygiene and dietary habits are established during childhood. There is a great need for dental education of grandparents as they serve as role models for young children.

Keywords: Grandparents; Awareness; Primary teeth; Children; Oral health

Core tip: An observational study evaluating the attitude and knowledge of grandparents as they serve an important role as caregivers in their grandchildren’s lives. There is a great need for dental education of grandparents as they serve as role models for the young.