Audio-Visual Aid: An Effective Means to improve Parental Awareness toward Habits and Malocclusion Prevention in Children

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction Malocclusion is a very prevalent disorder of children. These disorders are frequently the result of deleterious oral habits. These disorders and their etiology are very difficult to explain to the parent, but the advent of audio-visual aids has solved this dilemma for the clinician. They allow the clinician to make the parents understand problems and also to compare with normal individuals. Aim The aim of the present study was to evaluate the awareness of parent toward malocclusion and the efficiency of audio-visual aid in improving parent awareness and compliance toward treatment. Materials and methods A sample size of 100 was estimated which were selected randomly from patients coming to the Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, IDS Bareilly. An audio-visual aid was prepared describing the oral habits and their associated malocclusions. A self-prepared questionnaire was presented to the parent before and after the audio-visual aid was shown to them. Their awareness and change in attitude was recorded. Results There was statistically significant (p ≤ 0.001) improvement in the knowledge and attitude toward treatment after audio-visual aids were used. Conclusion Audio-visual aid is effective in improving awareness toward malocclusion caused due to oral habits. How to cite this article Chandra S, Singal D, Arora S, Dwivedi S, Kiran K, Nikhra V, Chandra N. Audio-Visual Aid: An Effective Means to Improve Parental Awareness toward Habits and Malocclusion Prevention in Children. World J Dent 2014;5(2):98-101.