Some social correlates with the dental health of young children
Thomas, J.F.; Startup, R.
Community Dental Health 9(1): 11-17
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0265-539X PMID: 1617483 Document Number: 389290
A socio-dental investigation was carried out among 405 five-year-old school children living in a predominantly rural area of West Wales. Information was gathered from a clinical examination of the children and a questionnaire to their parents. The replies to the questionnaires were then cross-tabulated with the clinical findings. The results indicated that lower dmft values were positively associated with household ownership of a telephone and a car and a higher educational attainment by mothers. Mothers with a high level of anxiety about a dental visit and an expectation of eventual edentulousness tended to be the parents of the children with the highest level of untreated carious teeth. The importance of a family pattern of service use is also demonstrated.