Relationship between Oral Health Literacy (OHL) and Dental Anxiety in Parents of Children with dental caries visiting Tertiary Health Care Centre

Background: Mothers attitude towards oral dental health can significantly impact a child's oral health status. If a mother lacks oral health literacy (OHL), it may affect her behavior and lead to dental anxiety, potentially causing dental problems in the family, especially for young children. Aim: To determine the relationship between oral health literacy (OHL), socioeconomic status, dental anxiety in mothers of children with dental caries and dental caries status of mothers and children Materials and Methods: An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted involving a sample of 170 mother-child (3 to 12 years of age) dyads who visited the OPD of clinics of Pediatric Dentistry. The mothers’ dental anxiety and their observation of presence of dental anxiety in their children were assessed using the Modified Dental anxiety scale (MDAS) and dental anxiety question (DAQ), respectively. REALD-30 was used to assess parents' oral health literacy. Results: The mothers' mean REALD-30 and DMFT scores were 7.07±6.01 and 2.02±2.3, respectively. A statistically significant negative relationship was seen between REALD scores and dental anxiety among mothers of children. (r=-.142, p≤0.05). Statistically significant relationship was observed between dental anxiety of the mother and the child (r=0.304, p