Firoozeh Nilchian, Fatemeh Faraghani, Niloufar Ramazani, Rosanna Vaez,
Volume 39, Issue 0 (3-2026)
Background and Aims: Dental caries is a multifactorial chronic disease that affects the majority of the population, causing a very serious health problem worldwide This population-based cross-sectional study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the incidence of dental caries, parents' understanding of children's oral health, and factors affecting the use of dental services in the population of primary school children.
Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted and the desired information was collected using the OHL-AQ questionnaire, the validity and reliability of which was confirmed in the previuos study. A total of 400 students between the ages of 6 and 12 were included in the study. The decay, missing, filling (DMFT) Index was used for calculating dental caries index. The statistical population of this research were the parents and students of the primary level of education in the six districts of Isfahan city in the academic year of 1402-1403. The sampling method was random cluster sampling. Then, the data collected from the examinations and questionnaires were analyzed by correlation tests, Independent Samples
T-Test and linear regression using SPSS software version 26, and the error level was 0.05.
Results: Among 400 students, the highest frequency (20.8%) was related to the second grade and the lowest frequency (12.5%) was related to the sixth grade of education. The average age of students' parents was 39.8 years. In most cases (56%) parents had university education. The educational level of students and the level of parents’ education had a significant relationship with the DMFT score (P<0.001). The average oral health information literacy score and average age of the parents had a significant relationship with the DMFT score (P<0.001). In this study, the average oral health information literacy score of parents was estimated to be 9.1.
Conclusion: In the present study, the information literacy score of the parents was evaluated as average and showed a significant relationship with the DMFT index. Also, the educational level of the student and the level of parents’ education had a significant relationship with the DMFT score. Therefore, it can be concluded that promotion of the level of education in the society is necessary as it can affect the level of oral health of children.