Determination of the mother's knowledge, attitude, and practice about orodental health of their 1-6 years children in regions 3 and 16 of Tehran in 2015

Children learn health values and attitudes from their parents, especially their mothers. Therefore, mother's awareness about orodental health is important, as a foundation for health promotion planning for children. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practice of mothers about their children’ orodental health at ages of 1-6 years.
This research was a descriptive-analytical crosssectional study performed on 450 of 1-6 years childrens’ mothers attending kindergartens in two affluent and deprived areas of city of Tehran in 2015. Cluster random sampling was used. The standard KAP-WHO questionnaires were applied to assess mother's knowledge, attitude, and performance regarding their children’ oral health. Validity and reliability of the instrument were confirmed in previous studies. Data were analyzed through SPSS software using t-Test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, and Spearman correlation coefficient.
About 47.34% of mothers had a moderate level of knowledge, 51.12% had moderate attitudes and 46.23% had moderate practice regarding orodental health in children (P=0.05). Totally, the participants in this study had moderate level of KAP score (P Mothers’ knowledge and performance toward their children’s oral health was undesirable. Therefore, planning educational programs for mothers is necessary.