Parental Adherence to At-Home Fluoride Varnish Application for Their Children in Southeast Iran: A feasibility study

Background: Fluoride varnish (FV) is applied to tooth surfaces to prevent dental caries. Thus, this study aimed to experimentally assess parental adherence to FV application for their children at home. Methods: This acceptability study was conducted in two phases. The first phase was to create an acceptability questionnaire asking questions about applying FV, including self-efficacy, perceived effectiveness, and intervention coherence. The content validity index and content validity ratio were used to evaluate the questionnaire’s content validity, while test-retest and internal consistency procedures were used to examine its reliability. The second part of the study examined adherence to the intervention following an educational session, where parents of children aged three to fourteen years in the Kerman Province cities of Bardsir and Mahan were given FV packets to apply to their children’s teeth at home. Results: A 13-item survey was developed during the first phase. The content validity index and validity ratio scores were satisfactory for all items except one. The reliability calculation, which yielded acceptable results (Cronbach’s α=0.78, Cohen’s kappa=0.44), included 11 items. Phase two included delivering the varnish kits and accompanying education to 3,205 parents. A total of 91.3% of parents followed the treatment plan—78.5% after the first follow-up and 12.8% after the second. Parents with higher education levels were more likely to adhere to the treatment (P=0.001), and over 75% of mothers reported that they could apply the varnish independently. Conclusion: Based on the results, over 90% of parents successfully applied FV, indicating that this method could effectively increase FV coverage in the target population.