ABSTRACT

Dental caries are often called cavities, are erosions of the surface of tooth caused by the
combined effects of bacteria, acids, plague. Dental caries are common in both children and adult
and they occur most often as a result of poor dental hygiene. The present study was aimed at
assessing the “Effect of structured teaching programme on knowledge regarding dental caries
among mothers of pre-school children in selected anganwadies in Pathanamthitta district.
Objectives of the study was to assess the knowledge regarding dental caries among mothers of
pre-school children, to assess the effect of structured teaching programme on knowledge
regarding dental caries among mothers of pre-school children, to find out the association
between pretest knowledge score and selected baseline variables. A pre-experimental research
design with quantitative approach and purposive sampling was used to accomplish the
objectives. The researcher used structured questionnaire to identify the knowledge regarding
dental caries, after the pretest a structured teaching programme was given regarding dental caries
and it’s care and posttest was conducted. Data analysis was done by Wilcoxon signed rank test.
Result showed that there was a significant improvement in knowledge regarding dental caries
among mothers of pre-school children following structured teaching programme. The group
showed marked improvement in all the measures p=0.000. This study concluded that, structured
teaching programme on dental caries is effective among mothers of pre-school children.