Abstract
Aim
To evaluate the oral-health of preschool-children of incarcerated-mothers at nine United Arab Emirates (UAE) prison-nurseries and assess the oral-health knowledge and attitudes of the prison nurseries’ caregivers.
Study design
Cross sectional comparative study.
Methods
A total of 128 and 254 preschool children formed the study and control groups respectively. All were examined clinically for dental caries using the dmft score and oral health and hygiene status indices. Knowledge and attitudes of all caregivers (n = 45) at prison nurseries were assessed using an interview questionnaire.
Results
The prevalence of caries was not significantly different between the two groups with 89.9% [mean-dmft 4.97 (± 3.61)] in the study group and 92.1% [mean-dmft 4.48 (± 3.60)] in the controls. Oral-hygiene in the control group was better with 18.2% having good oral-hygiene compared to 6.2% in the study-group. Oral-health knowledge and attitude of the caregivers of prison nurseries were not satisfactory.
Conclusions
Despite the non-significant difference in the caries prevalence between the study and control groups, oral hygiene and care level of vulnerable-children of incarcerated-mothers were significantly poorer. Prisons’ caregivers had poor knowledge and attitude of dental health matters.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Al Agili DE. A systematic review of population-based dental caries studies among children in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Dent J. 2013;25(1):3–11.
Al Hosani E, Rugg Gunn A. Combination of low parental educational attainment and high parental income related to high caries experience in pre-school children in Abu Dhabi. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 1998;26:31 36.
Alkhadra T. Prevalence of dental caries and oral hygiene status among juvenile prisoners in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. J Contemp Dent Pract. 2017;18(11):991–5.
American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD). Policy on early childhood caries (ECC): classifications, consequences, and preventive strategies. AAPD Reference Manual 2014–2015. Pediatr Dent. 2014;36(3):50–2.
Al-Malik MI, Holt RD, Bedi R. The relationship between erosion, caries and rampant caries and dietary habits in pre-school children in Saudi Arabia. Int J Paediatr Dent. 2001;11:430–9.
Ashwell M, Barlow S, Gibson S, Harris C. National diet and nutrition surveys: The British experience. Public Health Nutr. 2006;9:523–30.
Bhujel N, Duggal MS, Saini P, Day PF. The effect of premature extraction of primary teeth on the subsequent need for orthodontic treatment. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent. 2016;17,(6):423–34.
Davey GC. Dental phobias and anxieties: evidence for conditioning processes in the acquisition and modulation of a learned fear. Behav Res Ther. 1989;27(1):51–8.
DeHart DD, Altshuler SJ. Violence exposure among children of incarcerated mothers. Child Adolesc Soc Work J. 2009;26(8):467–79.
El-Nadeef MA, Hassab H, Al-Hosani E. National survey of the oral health of 5-year-old children in the United Arab Emirates. East Med Hlth J. 2010;16(1):51–5.
Hinds K, Gregory T. National diet and nutrition survey: children aged 1.5 to 4.5 years. Vol. 2. Report of the dental survey. London: HMSO, 1995.
Kassebaum NJ, Bernabe E, Dahiya, M et al. Global burden of untreated caries: a systematic review and meta-regression. J Dent Res. 2015;94(5):650–8.
King NM, Wu II, Tsai JS. Caries prevalence and distribution, and oral health habits of zero- to four- year-old children in Macau, China. J Dent Child (Chic). 2003;70:243–9.
Kowash MB. Severity of early childhood caries in preschool children attending Al-Ain Dental Centre, United Arab Emirates. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent. 2015;16(4):319–24.
Kowash MB, Pinfield A, Smith J, Curzon ME. Effectiveness on oral health of a long-term health education programme for mothers with young children. Br Dent J. 2000;188:201–4.
Mahmoud N, Kowash M, Hussein I, Hassan A, Al Halabi M. Oral health knowledge, attitude, and practices of Sharjah mothers of preschool children, United Arab Emirates. J Int Soc Prevent Communit Dent. 2017;7:308–14.
Michael RFC. The Effects of Imprisonment on Inmates’ and their Families’ Health and Wellbeing. Natl Heal Comm. 2009;2(11):6–74.
Myers BJ, Smarsh TM, Amlund-Hagen K, Kennon S. Children of incarcerated mothers. J Child Fam Stud. 1999;8:11–25.
Naidu R, Nunn J, Kelly A. Socio-behavioural factors and early childhood caries: a cross-sectional study of preschool children in central Trinidad. BMC Oral Health. 2013;13:30. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6831/13/30.
Olatosi O, Inem V, Sofola O, Prakash P, Sote EO. The prevalence of early childhood caries and its associated risk factors among preschool children referred to a tertiary care institution. Niger J Clin Pract. 2015;18(4):493–501.
Pitts N, Chadwick B, Anderson T. Child Dental Health Survey. Report 2: dental disease and damage in children: England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Heal Soc Care Inf Cent;2015;1(7):1–106.
Public Health England. Dental public health epidemiology programme Oral health survey of three-year-old children 2013. A report on the prevalence and severity of dental decay. [Internet]. http://www.nwph.net/dentalhealth/reports/DPHEP%20for%20England%20OH%20Survey%203yr%202013%20Report.pdf. Accessed 12 Feb 2018.
Rantavuori K, Lahti S, Tolvanen M, Seppä L, Hausen H. Factors associated with different measures of dental fear among children at different ages. J Dent Child (Chic). 2009;76(1):13 – 9.
Reisine S, Tellez M, Willem J, Ismail A. Relationship between caregivers and child’s caries prevalence among disadvantaged African Americans. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2008;36:191–200.
Robertson O. Collateral convicts: children of incarcerated parents. Human Rights & Refugees Publications. 2012.
Schroth RJ, Brothwell DJ, Kehler LM et al. Determinants of early childhood caries in four Manitoba communities. Paediatr Child Health 2005:10(Suppl B):31B.
Schroth RJ, Brothwell DJ, Moffatt ME. Caregiver knowledge and attitudes of preschool oral health and early childhood caries (ECC). Int J Circumpolar Health. 2007;66(2):153–67.
Seow WK. Environmental, maternal and child factors which contribute to early childhood caries: a unifying conceptual model. Int J Paediatr Dent. 2012;22:157–68.
Shlafer RJ, Gerrity E, Ruhland E, Wheeler M. Children with incarcerated parents—considering children’s outcomes in the context of complex family experiences. Child Ment Heal eReview. 2013;(6).
Todd JE, Dodd T. Children’s dental health in the UK 1983. London: OPCS, Social Survey Division; 1985.
Townhead L. Quaker United Nations Office Briefing Paper: Children of Incarcerated Parents International Standards and Guidance. 2015; pp. 1–14.
Vann WF, Lee JY, Baker D, Divaris K. Oral health literacy among female caregivers. Impact on oral health outcomes in early childhood. J Dent Res. 2010;89:1395–400.
von Elm E, Altman DG, Egger M et al. Strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies. Bulletin WHO. 2007;85:867–72.
World Health Organization. Oral Health Surveys: Basic Methods. 3rd ed. Geneva: WHO; 1997.
World Health Organization. Prisons and Health. Regional office for Europe. WHO 2014.
Wu I, King NM, Tsai JSJ, Wong H. The Dental Knowledge and Attitudes of Medical Practitioners and Caregivers of Pre-school Children in Macau. HK J Paediatr. 2006;11:133–9.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Dr. Ammar Hassan for his valuable contribution to the statistical analysis of the data. We would like also to extend our sincerest gratitude to the participants and UAE Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Health and Community Prevention for their great support in this study. We applied the “first-last-author-emphasis” norm (FLAE) for the sequence and credit of authors’ contribution.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the manuscript.
Ethical approval
The ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Review Committee in Hamdan Bin Mohammed College of Dental Medicine (HBMCDM) with the ethical approval reference number [Ref: HBMCDM/EC/2021]. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ministry of Interior (MOI) of UAE.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Al Salami, A., Al Halabi, M., Hussein, I. et al. Oral health status of pre-school children of incarcerated mothers in United Arab Emirates prison nurseries and oral health knowledge and attitudes of their caregivers. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent 19, 255–266 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40368-018-0354-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40368-018-0354-8