Oral Health Behavior Change in Mexican-American Caregivers: A Community-Based Intervention Study

An oral health prevention intervention was conducted with Mexican-American (MA) caregivers, focused on improving their oral health knowledge, behavior, and self-efficacy. Five in-person intervention sessions were conducted with caregivers, followed by a 15 min skill-building exercise. A goal-setting sheet was provided, and two goals were chosen for fulfilment during the three month intervention period. The data on parental oral health knowledge, behavior, and self-efficacy were collected pre- and post-intervention using a portion of Basic Factors Research Questionnaire (BRFQ). Paired t-tests were conducted to test significant differences in the means of pre- and post-intervention oral health behavior, knowledge, and self-efficacy scores, and pre- and post-intervention individual item scores. Forty six primary caregivers were enrolled. There were significant differences in the means of pre- and post-intervention oral health knowledge ( p = 0.003), oral health behavior ( p = 0.0005), and self-efficacy scores ( p = 0.001). The individual item mean scores showed that there was a significant increase in the number of times caregivers checked for spots ( p = 0.016) and a significant decrease in the consumption of sweet or sugary drinks ( p = 0.032) post-intervention. Most of the caregivers believed that cavities were caused by germs in the mouth ( p = 0.001), sharing utensils with children was bad for their teeth ( p < 0.001), and fluoride toothpaste was best for a child’s teeth ( p < 0.001). The intervention resulted in improved caregiver oral health knowledge, behavior, and self-efficacy.