Correlation of mothers’ and their children’s oral hygiene and dental caries status

Background: Dental caries (DC) is influenced by a number of factors, one of which is the mother’s oral health, employment and educational status.  
Objectives: To correlate children’s and their mothers’ DC and oral hygiene status (OHS).
Method: The study included 130 school children aged 6-12 years and their mothers. DC and OHS of children and their mothers were recorded using decayed, extracted and filled teeth (deft), decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) and oral hygiene index-simplified (OHI-S) respectively. Maternal education and parent’s socio-economic status (SES) were recorded by Modified Kuppuswamy scale (2019) and analysed for correlation with DC and OHS.
Results: A significant positive correlation was noted between children’s and mother’s DC status (p=0.0001) and OHS (p=0.0005). Children from lower SES had higher DC experience in primary and permanent dentition, and poor oral hygiene, compared to children from upper socioeconomic class. However, only DC in primary dentition (p=0.015) and OHS (p=0.0008) indicated significant differences.  
Conclusions: OHS in 6-12-year-old school children correlated with mother’s OHS, SES of parents and maternal education. Lower DC experience in primary dentition and better OHS were significantly associated with higher maternal education.