Oral health knowledge attitude practices and caries experience among 1 0-12year olds in childrens homes

Abstract

Objective: The objective was to determine knowledge, attitude, practices and caries experience for 10- 12 year aids in two children's homes. Setting: Thomas Baranado and Kabete Childrens homes. Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study. Method: A convenient sample of 52 children responded to a questionnaire which was provided and in addition oral examination of every subject was executed under natural light. Results: The results showed 33(63%) of the children were able to identify tooth decay as a disease affecting teeth and majority of the respondents 44(85%) attributed it to eating a lot of sweets and sugary foods. The children's attitudes towards oral health was positive, many of them 40(80%) reported that healthy teeth were very important and majority of them 46(88%) felt that it was important to retain one's teeth throughout life. Majority of the children 41(79%) brushed their teeth after every meal, however they reported a high sugar intake with 3i62%) reporting frequent intake of sweets and sugary foods. The overall DMFT was 1.15. This is lower than the stipulated W.H.O levels which is 3 for 12 year olds. The mean for decayed teeth was 1.04 which was higher than the mean for missing-O.l 0 and filled-0.02. Conclusion: The children had a high percentage of unmet treatment needs and most of the majority had a positive attitude towards oral health and brushed daily. However, they reported a high sugar intake.