Dental knowledge and awareness among grandparents

Oral Health Considerations of Children: Grandparent Caregiver Perceptions, Behaviors, and Knowledge

INTRODUCTION

In the United States, approximately 2.7 million grandparents have permanent custody of their grandchildren. Prevalence of primary dental caries has remained steady for those living in poverty, and among children of color. Children in the care of their grandparents frequently live in socioeconomically disadvantaged households, where dental disparities continue to exist. Research regarding the grandfamily dynamic as it relates to oral health, is limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate oral health perceptions, behaviors, and knowledge of grandparents raising/caring for their grandchildren; and explore how a grandparent caregiver's oral health knowledge influences their perceptions/behaviors regarding their grandchild's oral health.

METHODS

This descriptive, cross-sectional survey research used non-probability sampling strategies to recruit grandparents who were the primary caregiver of their grandchildren, aged birth to eighteen years. A validated questionnaire was employed, both in-person and electronically.

RESULTS

A total of 75 grandparents participated and answered 52% (SD = 27%) of oral health knowledge questions correctly. The study showed a correlation between low-income grandparents (M = 3.94, SD = 1.02) having higher pediatric oral health knowledge. Additionally, results indicated the greater the knowledge, the more positive intent to assist grandchildren with routine brushing and in checking their teeth for cavities.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated that regardless of socioeconomic status, grandparent caregiver's oral health knowledge can positively affect their oral health-related behaviors and values, which could influence their grandchildren's' oral health. Further research regarding grandparent caregiver utilization of public health pediatric services and dental education programs, and the potential influence of these programs on pediatric oral health, should be explored.

Association between grandparent co-residence, socioeconomic status and dental caries among early school-aged children in Japan: A population-based prospective study

Globally many children are living with grandparents, and it has been suggested that grandparent co-residence may be associated with dental caries in infants and toddlers possibly through passive parenting style, accompanied by children's cariogenic behaviors such as feeding sugary sweets. However, little is known about this association in schoolchildren, adjusted for socioeconomic status. Therefore, this study investigates the association between grandparent co-residence, socioeconomic status, and dental caries among schoolchildren. All caregivers of first-grade children (age 6-7 years) in Adachi City, Tokyo, were administered a questionnaire about children's grandparent co-residence status and oral health-related behaviors, and responses were linked with dental examination records conducted by school dentists (N = 3,578). Multilevel Poisson regression analysis was applied to examine the association between grandparent co-residence, socioeconomic status, and dental caries status for each individual tooth, adjusting for potential covariates. The percentage of dental caries experience was higher among children living with grandparents (48.9%) than among children living without grandparents (44.0%). The risk for caries, however, did not differ according to grandparent co-residence status when tooth type, child's age and sex, and parental socio-economic status and structure were adjusted (PR, 1.13; 95%CI, 0.90, 1.42). The association between grandparent co-residence and dental caries among early school-aged children in urban Japan was confounded by socioeconomic status.