Assessment of the relation between the use of the internet by parents for knowledge acquirement and their practice on childhood caries

Abstract

Introduction: Parents can use the Internet, which provides a good platform for information in various fields, to access information about proper oral care behaviors, and by applying these methods in their daily lifestyle, they can play an important role in reducing Play the rate of decay. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between parents' use of the Internet to obtain information and their performance in the field of premature caries in children. materials and methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 150 parents were randomly selected from the pediatric ward of the dental school and offices. The data collection tool consisted of two questionnaires that were provided to parents. The first questionnaire included demographic information and questions about the amount and how parents access the Internet, the type of content searched, the type of sites and the type of resources used, and so on. The second questionnaire was about parents' performance in nutritional nutrition and dental care. The validity and reliability of the questionnaires were also assessed. Data were analyzed by SPSS20 software and t-test and Chi-square. Results: 86% of parents have access to the Internet. 78.7% of parents search for premature caries in children on the Internet and their performance in pediatric caries was 29.59 4 4.59 (out of a total score of 44). Performance among parents was similar with access to and no access to the Internet. Google with 64% frequency was the most used source and then Telegram with 20.67% frequency. 30% of parents believe that searching for dental content on the Internet is easier than asking a dentist. 43.1% search the Internet before the visit and 74.8% after the visit, and 83.3% share the searched content with the doctor. Conclusion: The Internet raises parental awareness of early childhood caries but has no effect on parental performance.