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. 2020 Nov:118:105469.
doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105469. Epub 2020 Sep 15.

COVID-19 pandemic and pediatric dentistry: Fear, eating habits and parent's oral health perceptions

Ricardo Campagnaro  1 , Giulia de Oliveira Collet  2 , Mariana Podadeiro de Andrade  2 , João Pedro da Silva Lopes Salles  3 , Marina de Lourdes Calvo Fracasso  2 , Debora Lopes Salles Scheffel  2 , Karina Maria Salvatore Freitas  1 , Gabriela Cristina Santin  1   2
Affiliations

COVID-19 pandemic and pediatric dentistry: Fear, eating habits and parent's oral health perceptions

Ricardo Campagnaro et al. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2020 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Severe measures have been implemented around the world to reduce COVID-19 spread with a significant impact on family dynamics.

Aim: To assess the impact of the pandemic on fear, dietary choices and oral health perceptions of parents.

Design: questionnaire containing 19 questions was remotely applied to 1003 parents of children aged 0-12 years. The questions addressed topics regarding changes in daily routine, dietary habits, fear level, oral health, and variation of income during the pandemic. Data analysis included the description of the relative and absolute frequencies of the variables. Association tests were performed using Fisher's exact and Kruskal-Wallis tests.

Results: 73% of respondents reported income loss. Five hundred sixty-eight people denied seeking medical or dental care. 61.5% of respondents revealed changes in the dietary pattern; most of them mentioned an increase in food intake. Most parents (66.6%) would only seek urgent dental care. There was an association between parents' willingness to take their children to dental appointments with the fear level (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Most families have experienced changes in daily routine and eating habits during the pandemic. Parents fear COVID-19 and it impacts their behavior regarding seeking dental care for their children.

Keywords: COVID-19; Child care; Dietary pattern; Oral health; Pandemic; Pediatric dentistry.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Changes in eating habits during the pandemic.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Changes in food intake during the pandemic.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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