Abstract:
Introduction: It is important that caregivers of children, especially those in the study (2 to 24
months of age), have knowledge about oral hygiene so that they can correctly assist children
in maintaining adequate oral health.
Objective: The present study evaluates the knowledge, attitudes and practices of caregivers
regarding the oral hygiene of children aged 2 to 24 months attended at the healthy child
consultation at the Xipamanine Health Center.
Methodology: a cross-sectional descriptive observational study was carried out at the
Xipamanine Health Center. Structured interviews were carried out with 108 caregivers who
attended the health unit (weight curve) during the study period with children aged 2 to 24
months, graphs and frequency tables were generated for all study variables, for cleaning and
for data analysis, the SPSS statistical package, version 24, was used.
Results: Of the 108 caregivers received, 95.4% of caregivers were female, mean age was 29
years, 64.8% of caregivers had secondary education; 30.5% (33/108) caregivers of care
considered necessary to clean the mouth of babies, 38% (41/108) of caregivers defend that
children under 2 years old cannot get tooth decay; 85.2% of the caregivers had the habit of
waking up the babies to breastfeed or give a bottle during the night; 63% of caregivers did not
clean their children's mouths after breastfeeding; 37% (40/108) of caregivers gave their babies
sweetened liquids at least once a day.
Conclusions: The importance and concern for oral health begins to be realized after the
appearance of deciduous teeth, and for children without teeth it is still deficient. However,
despite some knowledge on the part of caregivers, it is still possible to identify gaps regarding
attitudes and practices. There is a need for prenatal, family planning and maternity
consultations to reinforce with mothers the need to clean their children's oral cavity even if
they do not have erupted teeth.
