Oral Healthcare Recommendations For Pre-school Children by Dentists in China

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the current recommendations on oral healthcare and preventive practices provided by dentists in China to the children under 5 years old. Methods: A convenient sample of participating dentists attending the 11th Congress of Paediatric Dentistry Association of Asia (PDAA) and the 9th National Academic Conference on Paediatric Dentistry in Beijing, China, in September 2018 were invited to participate in this cross-sectional survey. Information sheet with link and QR code of 19-items online questionnaire was distributed. Socio-economic background was collected. Repeat answers were not allowed. Knowledge score (KS) (range 0-16) based on dentists’ appropriate answers for oral healthcare recommendations was generated. Results: A total of 446 effective answers (Female: 337; Male: 109) were received. There were 135 general practitioners and 311 specialists, in which 181 of them were paediatric dentists. The mean KS±SD was 11.3±2.3 (range 3-16). Majority (80%) of the dentists had a good score of KS ≥10. Paediatric dentists had the highest mean KS (12.2) than the general practitioners (11.1) and other specialists (10.2) with a significant difference among all three groups (P<0.001). Most of them had a good knowledge of the timing to start oral cleaning (97.8%) and toothbrushing (90.1%) for children, and recommended caregivers to perform toothbrushing for their children (0-2 years: 98.2%; 3-5 years: 96.2%). However, quite few knew the appropriate duration of toothbrushing every time (38.8%) and the appropriate frequency of topical fluoride application for caries prevention for children (30.9%). Conclusions: Generally, dentists in China had a good knowledge of the current oral healthcare guidelines and recommendations for pre-school children. Paediatric dentists showed a better knowledge than general practitioners and other specialists. However, improvements in certain aspects such as the duration of toothbrushing or frequency of fluoride vanish application in promoting the children’s oral health are needed.