Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess parents’ knowledge and oral health status of children who were at risk of IE.
Methodology: Subjects were randomly chosen, matched and divided into two groups- Group I: 50 subjects aged 2-18 years who were at risk of IE. Group II: 50 subjects aged 2-18 years who were diagnosed without any heart disease. A structured questionnaire was given to the caretakers and an oral examination was performed on each child. To assess the significance of differences between the study and control groups, unpaired student ‘t’ test was employed.
Results: The percentage of guardians who were aware about IE and who understood the importance of good oral health were only 2%. As regards to oral health behavior, only 24% of children were supervised by their caretakers during brushing and 96% had never visited a dentist before. There was visible plaque in 96% of children, only 2% showed inflamed gingiva and 96% of children had no enamel defects. The caries experience for primary dentition (dmft) was 1.82 and that for permanent dentition (DMFT) was 0.38.
Conclusion: Parents’ knowledge about IE and its prevention was poor, however the oral health status of these children was fair.
