Relationship between mothers' report of their children's oral health and children's clinical conditions among farmworker families

Objective: To examine if mothers' perceptions of their children's oral health status were associated with clinically-determined caries status and treatment need among underserved, Hispanic farmworkers.

Methods: Oral health survey and clinical data were collected in 2006-7 from families in Mendota, California (Fresno County) as part of a larger, population-based study (NIH grant #U54DE014251). Mothers and their children (age 0-17, n=387) with at least one tooth were included in this analysis. Outcome variables, based on clinical examination, included a dentist recommendation about each child's need for urgent treatment within 2 weeks and untreated caries status (yes/no). Primary explanatory variables were mothers' perceptions about children's oral health (fair/poor or better) and whether or not the child had cavities (yes/no/don't know). Regression analyses accounting for within-family clustering and sociodemographics were performed.

Results: Preliminary findings indicated that 27% of children had untreated caries and 35% needed dental care urgently. Many mothers (37%) thought their children had cavities; 26% rated their child's oral heath as fair/poor.

Preliminary regression models indicated children were more likely to have caries if mothers thought the child had cavities (Odds Ratio (OR)=2.21, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.17-4.17, p=0.0141) or rated their oral health as fair/poor (OR = 2.38, CI 1.36-4.15, p=0.0024). Children with fair/poor ratings were more likely to need urgent dental care (OR=2.18, CI 1.24-3.81, p=0.0065).

Conclusions: Mothers' oral health perceptions were related to children's clinical outcomes. Children of mothers that believed her child had cavities and had fair/poor oral health were twice as likely to have caries.