Parents’ education and dental health in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64171/JAMS.2026.6.2.1-6Keywords:
Parents, Education, Diabetic children, Dental healthAbstract
Aim: To assess influence of parents’ education levels on the dental health among their children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM).
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Benghazi-Libya included diabetic children aged 4-15 years. Data were collected via a clinical dental examination and questionnaire survey completed by parents. The study targeted diabetic children, with a minimum sample size of 151 participants determined at a 95% confidence level. Clinical examination was performed using the DMFT/dmft index according to WHO criteria. The data were logged and analyzed using IBM-SPSS for Windows version 29.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Frequencies and percentages were measured to assess the influence of parental education on the dental health of their children.
Results: Clinical examination revealed a high prevalence of dental caries in both primary (56.5%, mean dmft 2.31) and permanent dentitions (54.5%, mean DMFT1.63). The mean dmft is decreased among children of university educated mothers than of non-university educated mothers. These differences were statistically significant. However, the mean dmft was higher among children of university educated fathers than of non-university educated fathers. These differences were not statistically significant.
Conclusion: This study displayed a high prevalence of dental caries among children with type 1 diabetes mellitus in Benghazi. The present study showed that a high parents’ educational level does not directly subscribe to good oral health care for their children. The parents need further attention by presenting more programs dealing with dental health which will be useful in improving their children’s oral health.
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