The relationship between family economic status and parents’ level of knowledge about dental caries disease in early childhood

Abstract

Dental caries is an infectious disease that attacks the lining of the teeth caused by bacteria. According to the Indonesian Basic Health Research in 2018, the prevalence of dental caries in Indonesia is still quite high, namely 45.3% which has increased compared to data in 2013 which amounted to 25.9%. In early childhood with an age range of 3-4 years, they experienced dental caries as much as 36.4% and at the age of 5-9 years as much as 54.0%. This study uses the literature review method and based on the result of data search, 7 articles were studied in this study. The result found in 7 articles stated that the low income of parents affects the maintenance and oral health services for their child. In line with the low level of education, parents will also have a low level of knowledge about dental and oral health as well. Meanwhile, high parental income and high education will have an impact on the low incidence of caries in child. The conclusion of this study is that there is a relationship between family economic status and dental caries in early childhood which is also influenced by the level of knowledge of parents about the importance of maintaining oral and dental health.