Background: Mothers play an important role in preventing fluorosis due to inadvertent swallowing of fluoridated toothpaste and enhancing the effectiveness of toothbrushing amongst preschool children through proper supervision.
Aim: To investigate the knowledge of mothers with regards to the benefits and risks of fluoride toothpaste usage among preschool children and to assess the level of parental supervision during toothbrushing. In additional, we wish to investigate the toothpaste purchasing behaviour of mothers in relation to brand, price, flavour, fluoride content and the influence of advertisement.
Methodology: Cross-sectional study of a representative random sample of 373 mothers of 5-6 year old preschool children through self-administered questionnaires.
Result: The response rate was 90.3% (337). The majority (61.7%) of the mothers reported that the amount of toothpaste their children used was half-length. Most mothers (70.6%) claimed they usually apply toothpaste for their child. About one-half (50.4%) reported the children applied the toothpaste themselves. Only 41.2% of the respondents supervised their children every time during toothbrushing. The mean age at which the child started brushing and using toothpaste was about 34 months (S.D. 14.9) and 37 months (S.D.14.8) respectively. Almost all (95.8%) reported that their children rinsed their mouth after toothbrushing. The mothers’ choice of toothpaste for their child was influence by brand (91.4%), flavour (91.4%) and fluoride content (84.6%) with price being the least of the factors. The majority of the respondents (82.7%) had average to good overall knowledge scores. There was significant association (P=0.034) between the level of education of the mothers and their level of knowledge on fluoride toothpaste usage.
Conclusion: Future oral health messages for preschool children and mothers in Perlis should target areas found lacking in terms of knowledge and practices with regards to fluoride toothpaste usage. This includes regular supervision of preschool children during toothbrushing by parents and using only a small amount of toothpaste for young children.
The Oral Health Division, Ministry of Health in Malaysia piloted clinical pathways (cpath) in primary care in early 2003. This study investigated the knowledge, perception of cpaths and barriers faced by the clinicians involved in the pilot project. Self-administered questionnaires were sent to the clinicians (n=191). Dentists (67.9%) and dental nurses (70.6%) had good overall knowledge of cpaths. The majority of the clinicians (67.9% to 95.6%) perceived cpath positively in all areas. Only 9.2% of dentists encountered difficulties in using cpath forms compared to 28.4% of dental nurses. A higher proportion of dental nurses (73.5%) compared to dentists (64.8%) were willing to continue using cpath. The majority of dentists (76.7%) and dental nurses (73.1%) were willing to participate in future development of cpaths. Overall, there was evidence of managerial support for the pilot project. A follow-up of the pilot project was somewhat lacking as less than half (43.3%) of the clinicians reported that the state coordinator obtained feedback from them. The findings auger well for the future implementation of cpath should the Oral Health Division decide to adopt cpath routinely in the public oral health care service.