Assessment of Oral Health Literacy of Parents Regarding Their Children's Oral Health: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND The American Dental Association defines oral health literacy as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand information and services that allow them to make appropriate decisions about oral health. Parental oral health literacy influences children's dental health, as parents' knowledge and practices play a key role in prevention. The present study aimed to evaluate oral health literacy among 692 parents of children aged 2 to 12 years using the Health Literacy Dental Scale-14 (HeLD-14) and child oral health using the Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT) index. MATERIAL AND METHODS This cross-sectional study included 692 parents of children aged 2 to 12 years. Data were collected via a purposefully developed self-administered questionnaire assessing demographics and parent-child oral health knowledge and practices. Children's dental caries were measured using the DMFT index, and quantitative data were analyzed using chi-square tests, correlations, and regression models. RESULTS Participants' OHL scores were significantly different by sex, residential area, and employment status (P<0.05). This study established a significant negative relationship between parental oral health literacy and mean DMFT scores, with a correlation coefficient of -0.41 at P<0.001. The DMFT scores of participants in the urban zone were lower than those from the rural areas (P=0.002). CONCLUSIONS Children's oral health is closely linked to parental knowledge and practices. Higher parental OHL correlates with lower DMFT scores, and targeted education, especially for rural or low-literacy parents, can improve children's oral health outcomes.