EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DENTAL PROFESSIONALS WHEN DISCUSSING DIET WITH PARENTS/CARERS OF CHILDREN AGED BETWEEN 3-5 YEARS OLD

Abstract

Introduction: Oral health is an important determinant of overall health and can be affected by diet. An unhealthy diet is a risk factor for both oral health, mainly dental caries, and general health. Dental professionals have an important role in prevention methods, including diet advice. However, their roles are limited by multiple challenges. Aim: This study aims to examine practices and challenges encountered by dental professionals when discussing diet for reducing dental caries with parents or carers of children aged 3-5 years. Method: It is a cross-sectional online questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of three main sections: demographic characteristics, participants’ practice towards discussing the diet of children with parents/carers, and challenges they are facing in providing dietary advice. The questionnaire was distributed via social media among dental professionals’ groups, and snowball sampling between colleagues and co-workers. Chi Square test and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data in SPSS v21. Results: A total of 207 responses were received following the distribution of the survey link. After excluding irrelevant responses, the final sample size consisted of 197 respondents. The study showed that 42% of participants always engage in discussions about dietary advice. Sugar intake was found to be the most discussed topic. Almost all respondents use verbal explanations to deliver advice. Sixty percent of participants face challenges like time, patient awareness and motivation, knowledge, training, a lack of tools, confidence, and finances that hinder providing diet advice. Conclusion: Despite the fact that many dental professionals provide dietary advice at varying rates, the results indicate that a number of challenges hinder the delivery of dietary advice. This data may allow us to develop strategies that overcome these challenges and increase the frequency of dietary advice delivery.