Abstract:

Introduction: Oral literacy (OHL) is an essential factor in an individual’s oral health and general well-being. Parents with adequate OHL play an essential role in preventing oral diseases. Aim: The study aims to assess the oral risk profile of children aged 6 to 10 years after implementing a program to increase their parents’ oral health literacy training. Materials and methods: The study involved 243 parents, including 209 women and 34 men, after signing informed consent and their children aged 6 to 10. After assessing their attitudes and knowledge of dental care and oral health, a dental health education program was established. The change of their children’s oral health is realized through a preventive plan for modeling the oral environment individually for each child with their parents’ active participation and assistance. It included prophylactic approaches after assessing the unique combination of caries risk factors. The primary strategy of each prevention plan was to model the behavior of children to improve oral hygiene (frequency), how to conduct it, the most commonly used movements of the toothbrush, duration (duration), use of fluoride toothpaste, and control of oral care. Results: After one year of implementation of the parents’ health education program, the oral risk profile of their children was assessed in terms of oral hygiene, diet, fluoride prevention, and caries activity. Conclusions: The results show that increasing the health literacy of parents correlates positively with the improvement of the oral risk profile of their children.

Keywords: Parents, oral health literacy, oral health, oral diseases, caries risk