The correlation between mothers' behaviors of maintaining their children's oral hygiene and early childhood caries (based on the theory of planned behavior)

Objective: To obtain information regarding the relationship between mothers' behaviors of maintaining their children's oral hygiene and Early Childhood Caries (ECC)based on the Theory of Planned Behavior(TPB). Methods: This study was conducted as a cross-sectional study of 295 pairs of mothers and children in the District of Beji, Depot. A clinical examination was carried out and a TPB questionnaire was used. Prior to the research, the TPB questionnaire was constructed and calibrated under the supervision of a TPB expert. The internal and external reliability of the questionnaire were both acceptable (Cronbach's alpha = 0.820; ICC = 0.771). Results: The study showed that 53.9% children had ECC, with a 3.46 dmft score and a 7.66 plaque score. With respect to mothers' behaviors of maintaining their children's oral hygiene, there was a significant relation between two components of TPB behavior (attitude (ATT) and subjective norms(SN)) and intentions and between intentions and behavior; however, there was no significant relation between Perceived Behavioral Control(PBC) and intentions or between behavior and dmft and plaque in children (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Although there was a relation between intentions and behavior, there was no significant impact on children's oral hygiene habits or ECC. Thus, according to the TPB, there was no correlation between mothers' behaviors of maintaining their children's oral hygiene and ECC.