Of the one hundred and seventy participants, the complete responses of one hundred and three participants, n=103, were recorded. There were different regions within the United States that the participants had the option of choosing to confirm their place of residence. The regions of the United States given for the participants to choose from were West, Midwest, Southwest, Northeast, and Southeast. As noted in Figure 1: Residence, most of the participants, thirty-five percent, resided in the West. In the Midwest, there was 12.6% participation. In the Southwest, 16.5% participation was recorded. In the Northeast, there was a participation total of 18.4% recorded. Lastly, there was 17.5% participation recorded from the Southeast.
The participants were required to have at least one child between the ages of 7- to 17- years old to be considered eligible to partake in the study. Of the 103 eligible participants, sixty-four participants had one qualifying child. Two or more children were recorded for the remaining 39 participants. Eligible participants were asked to state their relationship to the child. Participants were given the option to choose whether they were a biological parent, stepparent, adoptive parent, foster parent, grandparent, or other. Some seventy-nine participants were biological parents. Five of the participants were stepparents. Four participants were adoptive parents. In addition, three participants were foster parents and only one participant was a grandparent; the remaining eleven were recorded as other. The educational level of the mother and father were also inquired. The demographics are detailed in Table 1.
Table 1. Detailed Demographics of Survey Participants (n=103)
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Variables n %
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Residence in the United States (n = 103)
West 36 35.0
Midwest 13 12.6
Southwest 17 16.5
Northeast 19 18.4
Southeast 18 17.5
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Household number of children (n =1 03)
One child 64 62.1
Two or more children 39 37.9
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Relationship to child (n = 103)
Biological parent 79 76.7
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Variables n %
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Stepparent 5 4.9
Adoptive parent 4 3.9
Foster parent 3 2.9
Grandparent 1 1.0
Other 11 10.7
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Mother’s highest level of education (n = 103)
Middle school degree or below 3 2.9
High school diploma 19 18.4
Associates degree 14 13.6
Bachelor’s degree 34 33.0
Master’s degree or higher 28 27.2
Unsure 5 4.9
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Father’s highest level of education (n = 103)
Middle school degree or below 5 4.9
High school diploma 20 19.4
Associates degree 14 13.6
Bachelor’s degree 39 37.9
Master’s degree or higher 20 19.4
Unsure 5 4.9
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Child’s Oral Hygiene Behaviors
To test for a significant association between a parent’s oral hygiene knowledge and their child’s oral hygiene behaviors, a chi-square test of independence was performed. The assumption was that the sample was randomly drawn from the population and the expected values were at least 5 or greater. The researcher’s first hypothesis was: H0: (null hypothesis) There is no relationship between a parent’s oral hygiene knowledge and the oral hygiene behaviors of their 7- to 17-year-old child. The two variables, a parent's oral hygiene knowledge and the oral behaviors of their 7- to 17-year-old child, are independent. The researcher’s second hypothesis was: H1: (alternative hypothesis) There is a relationship between a parent’s oral hygiene knowledge and the oral hygiene behaviors of their 7- to 17-year-old child. The two variables, a parent's oral hygiene knowledge and the oral behaviors of their 7- to 17-year-old child, are not independent. In Table 2, the observed values are listed and the expected values are listed in parentheses. Since the expected values were at least 5, the assumption of the chi-square test of independence was met.
Table 2. Child’s Oral Hygiene Behaviors (n=103)
|
Dental visit past 12 months
|
Child brushes own teeth
|
Child uses toothpaste
|
Must remind child to brush
|
Row totals
|
Child w/good OH*
|
74 (78.75)
|
86 (78.75)
|
97 (82.76)
|
62 (78.75)
|
319
|
Child w/poor OH
|
24 (19.25)
|
12 (19.25)
|
6 (20.24)
|
36 (19.25)
|
78
|
Column Totals
|
98
|
98
|
103
|
98
|
397
|
* OH = Oral Hygiene
After the observed and expected totals were tabulated, the researcher performed a Pearson's Chi-squared test utilizing the quantitative software R. The Pearson’s Chi-square test rendered the following values: X-squared = 35.447, df = 3, p-value = 9.803e-08. Since the p-value of 9.830e-08 is less than the 0.05 significance level, the null hypothesis was rejected. Therefore, since the two variables being independent were rejected, the alternative hypothesis, there is a relationship between a parent’s oral hygiene knowledge and the oral hygiene behaviors of their 7- to 17-year-old child, was accepted.
The researcher sought out to find period prevalence since the proportion of the population exhibited a particular characteristic at a point during a given period of interest, for this study 4 weeks. The prevalence of dental visits in the past 12 months among children with good hygiene behaviors was 75.5% as opposed to children with poor hygiene behaviors which was 24.5%. Moreover, the prevalence of children with good hygiene behaviors that brush their teeth was 87.8% when compared to children with poor oral hygiene which was 12.2%. The prevalence of children with good hygiene behaviors that used toothpaste to brush their teeth was 94.2% in contrast to children with poor hygiene behaviors which was an estimated 5.8%. Lastly, the prevalence of children with good hygiene behaviors that had to be reminded to brush their teeth was 63.3% as opposed to children with poor hygiene behaviors which was 36.7%.
Parent’s Hygiene Knowledge
The chi-square test of independence was also applied to the parent’s hygiene knowledge section of the instrument. The assumption was that the sample was randomly drawn from the population and the expected values were at least 5 or greater. The researcher’s first hypothesis was: H0: (null hypothesis) There is no relationship between a parent’s oral hygiene knowledge and the oral hygiene behaviors of their 7- to 17-year-old child. The two variables, a parent's oral hygiene knowledge and the oral behaviors of their 7- to 17-year-old child, are independent. The researcher’s second hypothesis was: H1: (alternative hypothesis) There is a relationship between a parent’s oral hygiene knowledge and the oral hygiene behaviors of their 7- to 17-year-old child. The two variables, a parent's oral hygiene knowledge and the oral behaviors of their 7- to 17-year-old child, are not independent. In table 3, the observed values are listed and the expected values are listed in parentheses. Since the expected values were at least 22, the assumption of the chi-square test of independence was met.
Table 3. Parent’s Hygiene Knowledge (n=103)
|
Necessary for child to floss
|
Optional for child to floss
|
Only brushing necessary for child’s good oral hygiene
|
Necessary for child to get cavity filled
|
Gingival bleeding normal
|
Row totals
|
Child w/good OH*
|
73 (43.22)
|
40 (43.22)
|
41(43.22)
|
38 (36.49)
|
14 (40.44)
|
206
|
Child w/poor OH*
|
17 (46.78)
|
50 (46.78)
|
49 (46.78)
|
38 (39.51)
|
69 (35.87)
|
223
|
Column Totals
|
90
|
90
|
90
|
76
|
83
|
429
|
* OH = Oral Hygiene
After the observed and expected totals were tabulated, a Pearson's Chi-squared test was performed within the R software and the following values were rendered: X-squared = 72.553, df = 4, p-value = 6.559e-15. Since the p-value of 6.559e-15 is less than the 0.05 significance level, the null hypothesis was rejected. Therefore, since the two variables being independent were rejected, the alternative hypothesis, there is a relationship between a parent’s oral hygiene knowledge and the oral hygiene behaviors of their 7- to 17-year-old child, was accepted.
The researcher also sought out to find period prevalence for the third section of this study. The prevalence of children with good hygiene behaviors that had parents that believed their child needed to floss was 81.1% as opposed to children with poor hygiene behaviors which was 18.9%. Moreover, the prevalence of children with good hygiene behaviors that had parents that believed it was optional for their child to floss was 44.4% when compared to children with poor hygiene behaviors which was 55.6%. The prevalence of children with good hygiene behaviors that had parents that believed only brushing was necessary for their child to have good oral hygiene health was 45.6% in contrast to children with poor hygiene behaviors which was an estimated 54.4%. Furthermore, the prevalence of children with good oral hygiene behaviors with parents that believed their child needed to get their tooth cavity filled was 50% as well as 50% for children with poor oral hygiene behaviors. Lastly, the prevalence of children with good hygiene behaviors that had parents that believed that gingival bleeding was normal when brushing was 16.9% as opposed to children with poor hygiene behaviors which was 83.1%.