Abstract
Objective: To determine oral health comprehension among parents of cerebral palsy (CP) children.
Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was utilized to obtain the required information. The study was conducted in two main centers for disabled children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Results: Parents of all 157 CP children registered in the two centers completed the questionnaire. Mothers mostly (86.6%) completed the questionnaire. Majority (98.7%) of the parents knew the importance of dental health for general health. More than two-third (70%) of the parents thought that teeth should be brushed thrice daily or after each meal. About three in every ten (29.9%) parents were not aware of the beneficial effect of fluoride in preventing dental caries; and very few (9.6%) were aware of water as a source of fluoride. Almost all (98.7%) the parents knew that sugary foods caused dental caries. Three-fourth (75.8%) of the parents were not aware of the possible harmful effects of bottled juices on teeth. There were no significant (p>0.05) associations between the parental age/gender with any of the dependent variables.
Conclusion: Parents of CP children generally showed satisfactory oral health comprehension. However, they need further oral health education in several areas. (C) 2017 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.