Parents' attitude towards children's first dental visit in the College of Dentistry, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to evaluate parents' awareness about the timing of the first dental visit for their children, the parents' attitude toward behavior modification for their children at the first dental visit, and to determine the main reasons for bringing the child to the dentist in the first visit among the Saudi parents attending the dental school at the College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire consisting of 12 items was distributed to any adult patient reporting at the Registration Appointments and Records Division of King Saud University, College of Dentistry, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, during the year 2001. The questionnaire response rate was 96.5%.

RESULTS: Some parents reported that their child's first dental visit should be in the 3rd year (42%) while others thought it should be in the 6th year (34.4%). Seventy-three percent of the parents prefer behavior modification during the first dental visit. Regular visit (40.3%) and emergencies (28.1%) were the main reasons to bring the children to the dentist.

CONCLUSION: These data indicate that there is a relatively low level of parents' knowledge about the timing of a child's first dental visit. The dental profession and pediatricians have major responsibilities to change this concept.