Qom University of Medical Sciences Journal

Background and Objectives: Knowledge is a necessary component for behavioral changes, including behaviors related to oral and dental health and prevention of oral disease. Family has the most important role in children's oral and dental health. This research aimed to determine knowledge, attitudes and performance of the parents of preschool and primary school children referring to health centers of Qom City about the importance of preserving Primary Teeth and its related factors.

Methods: This study was conducted as a descriptive-analytical study on 267 mothers of preschool children referring to selected health centers of Qom City in 2014. Data was collected using questionnaire and interview. The reasearcher-made tool was a 22-part questionnaire containing 21 multiple-choice questions and one descriptive question. The data were analysed using simple and multiple logistic regression descriptive statistics.

Results: In this study, the participants’ knowledge about the care of primary teeth in 51.1% of cases was poor, 48.9% of the participants had a positive attitude about the care of primary teeth, and 60% of the participating parents showed a good performance for the care of primary teeth. There was a significant relationship between female gender and knowledge and positive attitude of parents about the care of primary teeth (p<0.05) according to multiple logistic regression model. Also, in multiple logistic regression model, there was only a significant relationship between attitude and performaance (p<0.05).

Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, training parents about the importance of care of primary teeth, should be performed in line with individual needs of children and parents to succeed in the prevention programs for oral and dental diseases in children.