Investigation of the effects of the family's oral care habits and sociocultural characteristics on the individual's oral care habits and oral health status

In our study, it was aimed to examine the effects of sociocultural characteristics, economic status and oral health behaviors of mothers and fathers on the oral care habits and oral health status of high school individuals. In addition, it is aimed to correlate the oral care habits expressed by young individuals with the oral health status obtained as a result of intraoral evaluation. 157 volunteer young individuals and their parents attending a randomly selected Anatolian High School in Istanbul participated. Data on oral health knowledge levels, care habits and behaviors were collected from the participants with HU-DBI and a questionnaire consisting of 3 additional questions. Data on the socio cultural characteristics of the family, the frequency of visits to the dentist and the systemic diseases of the parents were also obtained through an additional questionnaire. Oral health status of young people was determined by periodontal indices (PI, SK, SCD, and CPI) and DMF-T index. The mean HU-DBI score is 5.9 for young individuals, 5.4 for mothers and 5.1 for fathers. There is a statistically significant difference between mother-child and father-child. While mothers and children gave similar and positive answers to the statements about brushing habits in HU-DBI; The answers of these two groups are different from the fathers. In terms of brushing habits, mothers seem to be more effective on children than fathers. The mean PI of the youth was 1.37; SCD average 1.93 mm; The mean SC was 22.34%, the DMF-T mean was 4.03, and the CPI was 2.2. Only 46% of young individuals with SC>30% are aware that their gums bleed on brushing, while only 19% of those with PI>1 are aware of sticky deposits on their teeth. As the economic situation of families improved, children had higher HU-DBI scores and increasingly below-threshold SCD, PI, DMF-T and CPI scores. There is a statistically significant difference between the mother's visit to the dentist and the child's HU-DBI and CPI score, and the mother's presence/absence of systemic disease and the child's HU-DBI score. Oral care habits and the child's own oral health knowledge level rather than the sociocultural characteristics of the family; has been associated with oral health.