Knowledge and awareness about night brushing and its importance in oral health among the parents of their children

Abstract

Introduction: Brushing teeth before going to sleep helps to remove bacteria and plaque in your mouth helping to eliminate any damage done by less saliva protection.This study is aimed to assess the knowledge and awareness of night brushing and its importance on oral health among the parents and their children.

Materials and methods: 64 parents visiting dental hospitals to seek care for their children were involved in this cross sectional study. A self structured pre-validated questionnaire was distributed among the parents. Statistical analysis was performed in SPSS software version-23. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed.

Result: Among 64 parents, 56% parents are aware of night brushing and about 48.44% brush teeth for 2 minutes, 28.13% brush for less than 2 minutes and remaining brush for more than 2 minutes. About 65.63% have no idea how long bacteria can live in their mouth. This study increases the awareness of night brushing among parents. There was no significant difference in the knowledge, awareness of night brushing among parents of the children

Conclusion: The awareness of the importance of night brushing is an essential factor affecting oral health.This study shows that both parents and the child are aware of the fact that they have to practice tooth brushing twice daily but the extent of practicing in their daily life is questionable. This study was only an initial step towards evaluation of awareness regarding the importance of night brushing.