Investigation of oral health knowledge, past oral health behaviors, and barriers to preventive oral care of Head Start parents

Background: Dental caries remains the most common chronic disease of childhood. Local community agencies continue to seek strategies that will mitigate the impact of dental caries in their respective communities. The CincySmiles Foundation developed an instrument to investigate Head Start parents' knowledge of oral health care practices and to identify the barriers Head Start parents face when seeking dental treatment for their children. A collaborative community organization-university partnership was formed to assess the results of the instrument. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was utilized in this study. Data from 675 Head Start parents across three counties in Cincinnati, Ohio were collected by the community agency and analyzed by a team of university researchers. The questionnaire elicited information about oral health care practices from the participants. Results: Findings from the parental oral health knowledge scale indicated oral health educational programs would benefit the Head Start population. Barriers to oral health care adherence of the target population were identified with lack of dental insurance emerging as the primary barrier. Statistical analyses found significant relationships between current frequency of the parents' dental appointments and dentists' refusal to examine a child less than three years old (X²(2) = 6.202, p = 0.045). ANOVA tests examining barriers found statistically significant differences between the three counties under investigation (F(2, 668) = 4.896, p = .008). Conclusions: Public health educators have an integral role to play in reducing the risk factors associated with dental caries. Implications of findings and recommendations for future research are discussed.