Oral Health Care Behavior in a Group of Turkish Children

The purpose of this study was to evaluate oral health attitude and behavior of a group of Turkish children aged between 6-12 years A sample of 139 children attending Marmara University Dentistry School (MUDS) Department of Pediatrics Den tistry be tween December 2002 to April 2003 was selected. The mean age for girls was 8.82 yr (SD=2.06) and for boys was 8.87 yr (SD= 2.04). The reported age of starting tooth brushing was 4.5. 11.5 % of children declared that they changed their brush once a year, 38.8 % twice a year and 25.9% three times a year. 52.5% of children declared that they learned the principles of tooth brushing and the use of dental care prod ucts from the MUSD Department of Pediatrics Dentistry dentists during their visits and 78% of those children have applied what they learned from them. It is found necessary to educate mothers of tooth brushing; since the children mostly receive their first training from their mothers. Besides, schools and kindergartens should provide oral hygiene instruction to parents and children.