Positive Parent-Child Interactions and Stimulation Predict Favorable Oral Health-Related Practices.

Background: Health-related outcomes in children can be associated with parental practices.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate if parent-child interactions and stimulation are predictive of oral health-compromising behaviors at the age of 5 years.

Design: This longitudinal study investigated oral health-compromising factors at the age of 5 years as the outcome: sugar intake between meals more than once a day, no dental appointments or appointments only for treatment, unavailability of the mother to brush her child's teeth, and the presence of dental plaque. Exposure was child stimulation at 24 months. The association was tested using ordinal logistic regression, yielding odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results: A total of 1128 children were evaluated, and 46.2% had four or five positive interactions/stimulation practices. More than 80% of the mothers reported that their children had a high sugar intake and had never been to a dentist for treatment. Children with low stimulation had 1.29 greater odds of changing from no health-compromising behaviors to one or more (OR 1.29 95% CI 1.02-1.64) than those with high stimulation.

Conclusion: High parent-child interaction and stimulation were associated with lower scores of oral health-compromising practices at the age of 5 years.