Objective: The study aims to investigate how mothers' oral health behaviour and perception thereof influence the dental health in their children.
Methods: A total of 556 Vietnamese mother-child pairs participated in the current study. Mothers self-reported their oral status and oral health behaviour and perception. Dental caries of the children were examined using the index of decayed, missing, and filled teeth. The Dental Anxiety Scale instrument was used to assess the dental anxiety level in mothers and children.
Results: Among mothers, 41.3% had gingival bleeding, 40% perceived their dentition and gingival status to be at a good level, 68% brushed their teeth more than twice a day, and 17% had never visited a dentist. Mothers' oral health behaviour and their perception thereof were positively correlated with their frequency of dental visits (r = (0.105-0.221), p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with dental anxiety (r = (- 0.149- - 0.105), p < 0.05).Caries-free children were positively correlated with mothers having more than 20 teeth (r = 0.085, p < 0.05). Positive correlations between mothers and children were found in terms of frequency of fresh fruits consumption (r = 0.090, p < 0.05), drinking sweet beverages (r = 0.072, p < 0.05), and dental anxiety (r = 0.183, p < 0.001).
Conclusions: Maternal oral health was significantly associated with dental health of their children. Not only did maternal dental anxiety influence oral health of mothers but it was also a concomitant factor in the development of children's dental anxiety. The education programme on mothers' oral health-related knowledge can be a target for improvement of the oral health of mothers and children.
Keywords: Children; Dental anxiety; Mother; Oral behaviour and perception; Prediction of high-risk caries; Predictive preventive personalised medicine; Prevention of dental caries.