Vol. 7, Issue 8, Part A (2021)

Background: Protecting our teeth is an important as any aspect of our health and regular visits to the dentist are essential for taking care of our smile. Dental hygiene or health should begin in the childhood as even babies are susceptible to cavities. The extended contact with sugar increases the rate of tooth decay, having potential to destroy child’s entire set of teeth. Oral health is an integral part of the general health and well-being of an individual. Oral diseases continue to have high prevalence despite the decline in dental caries in developed countries. Children even with good oral hygiene, in present study, the overall caries prevalence were 65.6%. In developing countries like India there has been marked increase in the incidence of dental caries. Prevalence of dental caries was higher in urban than rural school children.

•To assess the level of knowledge regarding oral hygiene and dental carries among mothers of preschool children.

•To determine the effectiveness of video assisted teaching regarding oral hygiene and dental carries among mothers of preschool children.

•To determine the effectiveness of pre and post test of knowledge regarding oral hygiene and dental carries among mothers of preschool children.

•To find out the association between pre and post test levels of knowledge regarding oral hygiene and dental carries among mothers of preschool children with selected demographic variables.

Methodology: A Quasi-experimental research design with a purposive sampling technique was adopted to conduct a study among 60 Mothers of preschool children, children age around 3 to 6 years. Data was gathered by using a structured questionnaire. Confidentiality was maintained throughout the procedure. Collected data were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Result: Among 60 samples of mothers of pre-school children shows that The knowledge regarding oral hygiene and dental carries in the pretest (40%) have inadequate knowledge, (34%) have moderate knowledge and 16(26%) have adequate knowledge Whereas in the post test (4%) have inadequate knowledge, (15%) have moderate knowledge and (81%) have adequate knowledge on oral hygiene and dental carries among mothers of preschool children. The study shows that there is no significant association between the level of knowledge regarding oral hygiene and dental carries among mothers of preschool children with demographic variables like age, number of children, religion, educational status, occupation, Types of marriage, Types of family.

Conclusion: The findings of the study revealed that video-assisted teaching on oral hygiene and dental caries helped to improve the level of knowledge among mothers of preschool children. The study concluded that there is no significant difference between the levels of knowledge on oral hygiene and dental caries among mothers of preschool children.