Knowledge, Awareness and Attitude of Nursing Students on Children’s Oral Health Practices in Preventing Early Childhood Caries- A Cross Sectional Study

ABSTRACT

Background: Early child hood caries (ECC) is one of the major burdens in children, but associated with some modifiable risk factors. The nursing students as a part of health care provides, may be first to deliver knowledge on maternal feeding practices and spread awareness on infant’s diet. Thus, the knowledge, awareness and attitude of Nursing was aimed to be evaluated in the current study. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was carried at on a sample of 139 participants who were recruited by purposive sampling. A validated pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to assess the aim of the study. The data was recorded by the same questionnaire tool was analyzed and reported as percentages and figures. Results: The observation showed that 45.3% of the participants answered that the first dental visit of the child should be between 6-12 months. The majority (67.9 %) knew about the pit and fissure sealants and their application on a Caries tooth (61.9 %). Half of the participants knew on the ‘pea size ‘amount of tooth paste use, and around 48.2 % of the believed that topical fluoride must be applied every 6 months, The responses for dietary practices, bottle feeding practices and frequency of dental visits were variably reported by nursing students. Conclusion: The survey showed a reasonable knowledge and awareness of the nursing students about dental health and oral hygiene practices to be carried out for children. The need for awareness about some issues in this regard is also a necessity which the survey highlighted.

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