Marja-Leena Mattila

Will the role of family influence dental caries among seven-year-old children?

The present study analyzed the prevalence of dental caries as well as associations of dental health and family competence among 7-year-old children and their families. Dental caries status was the outcome variable of the 7-year prospective follow-up study. Pre-tested questionnaires were used to gather data individually from the parents at six points in time (at the public maternity health-care clinic during the mothers pregnancy and at childbirth, at the well-baby clinic at 18 months, and at ages 3, 5, and 7 years). Clinical examinations at dental health-care clinics were used to record dental status indicators of the child at ages 3, 5, and 7 years. A child had caries more often when the mother did not regard it as important to teach a healthy lifestyle right from birth; when the mother undervalued consistent action in child-rearing; when the father preferred merely to explain the causes and consequences during child-rearing (giving no examples); when the father had several new carious teeth per year; when the child consumed sweets several times a week; or when the childs toothbrushing was infrequent. The childs daily dental health behaviors and a strong influence of family competence emerged in the final logistic regression analysis. Dental and well-baby clinic staff members need to discuss consistency in child-rearing with the parents and there is a need for modeling adult dental health behaviors at the time of the mothers pregnancy if the childs future preventive dental health is to function properly.

Sense of coherence and health behaviour in adolescence

Aim:  To explore associations of Sense of coherence (SOC) with health behaviour and social competence among 15‐year‐old adolescents.

Dental fear and sense of coherence among 18‐yr‐old adolescents in Finland

The aim was to investigate whether dental fear was associated with the sense of coherence (SOC) among 18-yr-old adolescents (n = 777). Cross-sectional data from a prospective cohort of a random sample of families from Finland and their first-born children were used. Dental fear was measured using the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale and categorized as high dental fear for scores of 19-25 and as no to moderate dental fear for scores of 5-18. Sense of coherence was measured using a 13-item version of Antonovskys Sense of Coherence Questionnaire, dichotomized as scores 13-63 for weak SOC and as scores of 64-91 for strong SOC. Gender and education were included as background factors in the logistic regression analyses. The prevalence of high dental fear was 8%. Those reporting high dental fear reported more often a weaker SOC than did those with no to moderate dental fear (69% vs. 31%, OR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.4-4.4), also when adjusted for gender and education (OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.2-3.9). According to the theory of salutogenesis, as proposed by Antonovsky, SOC is a resource instrument especially in situations of tension or strain and hence a strong SOC might protect against high dental fear.

Children's dental healthcare quality using several outcome measures.

The aim of this study was to measure the quality of childrens dental healthcare from the oral health records of 10-year-olds and from the numbers of children in risk groups. The focus was on dental healthcare and markers of dental records. A representative sample of women expecting their first child was selected in southwestern Finland. Childrens dental health, dmft/DMFT = 0, was recorded in 45% of cases with a mean DMFT index of 0.5, and dmft/DMFT S 5 in 15% of the children. Late-appearing caries (caries-free at the age of 5 years but caries-existing thereafter) was present in 31% (258/828) of the children. The focus on restorative dental healthcare was appropriate. The use of sweets was documented in 23% of cases and tooth-brushing in 28%. A total of 26% of the children had gingivitis in every segment. The study illustrates that only one of the targets has been fully reached.

Oral health-related knowledge, attitudes and habits in relation to perceived oral symptoms among 12-year-old school children

Objective The aim of the study was to investigate oral health-related knowledge, attitudes and habits and their relationship to perceived oral symptoms among 12-year-olds and differences between boys and girls. Material and methods The study population consisted of children (n = 588) in 15 randomly selected elementary schools in Turku, Finland. Associations between oral health-related habits, knowledge and attitudes with perceived oral symptoms and gender differences were evaluated with χ2-test, Mann-Whitney U-test and logistic regression analysis. Results Oral health promoting habits but not knowledge or attitudes associated significantly with absence of oral symptoms. Girls reported a higher percentage of several health promotional habits than boys. Girls reported more frequently gingival bleeding and less frequently dental calculus than boys did. The most common oral symptom was gingival bleeding. Conclusions The present findings suggest some gender-related differences in oral health habits, attitudes, as well as perceived oral symptoms in 12-year-olds. There seems, however, not to be gender differences in relation to knowledge or the association of health habits with perceived oral symptoms. It is important to maintain health promotion at schools and additional efforts should be aimed at translating knowledge into action.

Influence of children’s oral health promotion on parents’ behaviours, attitudes and knowledge

Abstract Objective The aim was to compare the changes in parents’ oral health-related behaviour, knowledge and attitudes in 2001–2003 and 2003–2005, during a 3.4-year-intervention in Pori and in the reference area Rauma, Finland. Materials and methods The study population consisted of parents of children who participated in the oral health promotion programme in Pori (all 5th and 6th graders who started the 2001–2002 school year in the town of Pori, n = 1691) and the parents of same-aged children in a reference town (n = 807). In 2001–2003, the promotion was targeted only to the children in Pori. In 2003–2005, the promotion was targeted also to parents, for example via local mass media. The statistical significances of the differences in parents’ self-reported behaviour, knowledge and attitudes, and changes in these, were evaluated using Mann-Whitney U-tests and confidence intervals. Results In 2001–2003, the trend in changing behaviours was in favour of parents in Pori. Mothers in Pori also improved their knowledge and the attitude ‘importance of brushing for health and appearance’. In 2003–2005, the trend in changing behaviours was rather similar in both towns, which may be due to diffusion of the oral health intervention to Rauma via the media. Conclusions The results suggest that health promotion targeted to children, which in previous studies has been shown to be successful in improving children’s behaviours, also helped their parents in mending their habits.