Association of Demographic Disparities in Maternal Oral Hygiene Status, Caries Experience, and Oral Health Behavior Toward Children in Chengalpattu District, India: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background and objective: Mothers are the primary caregivers throughout early childhood, playing a vital role in developing their child's oral health behavior, as oral conditions in primary teeth can have a considerable negative impact on the child's growth. This study aims to assess the association between maternal oral hygiene status, caries experience, and oral health behavior (OHB) toward their children.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 226 mothers of children aged nine months to three years visiting the primary health centers (PHCs) in urban (n = 113) and rural (n = 113) areas of Chengalpattu district, India. A 24-item questionnaire assessed and compared their OHB toward child oral health. Maternal oral hygiene status and caries experience were also assessed. Mann-Whitney-U test was used to compare the OHB scores between mothers from rural and urban areas, and Spearman's rank correlation (rho) was used to find the relationship between OHB with oral hygiene and the caries experience of the participants.

Results: The results showed significant differences in OHB scores between mothers from rural (mean rank: 86.78) and urban (mean rank: 140.22) backgrounds (p <0.001). Urban respondents had significantly higher knowledge (mean rank: 161.09 vs 65.91 for rural) and better oral health practices (mean rank: 132.00 vs 95.00 for rural) compared to their rural counterparts. However, rural respondents significantly showed more positive attitudes than urban respondents (mean rank: 124.80 vs. 102.20 for urban). A strong negative correlation (Spearman's rho of -0.83) was observed between knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) scores and Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S) in urban participants, and a moderately negative correlation (-0.683) was observed in rural participants.

Conclusion: Maternal oral hygiene has a significant influence on the OHB toward their children. This study highlights the critical influence of maternal oral health and demographic factors on the OHB of their children, underscoring the need for targeted public health interventions to address these disparities arising out of rural-urban differences and improve the oral health outcomes for both mothers and children. Mothers can thus explicitly play an indispensable role in fostering positive attitudes and healthy habits toward dental health care in children, regardless of the sociodemographic variations.