The impact of COVID-19 on children's oral health and family life

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on children's oral health, relating the pandemic with the change in family income, sugar consumption and oral hygiene. Material and Method: The research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee (CAAE: 56086022.0.0000.5097) and was a cross-sectional study carried out through a self-administered questionnaire for parents/guardians of children attended in the dentistry course of a private institution in Belo Horizonte. The instrument contained 12 specific questions about dietary patterns, financial situation, oral hygiene and going to the dentist during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results were descriptively analyzed using the SPSS statistical program version 28.0 (IBM® SPSS® Statistics). Results: It was observed that COVID-19 had an impact on the financial lives of families. 72.3% of them had a decrease in income and/or were unemployed in the pandemic. Regarding sugar consumption, for 75.5% of families there was an increase in their consumption during the pandemic, with the most consumed foods being processed foods (84.9%). As for oral hygiene, 80.9% of the children did the cleaning alone and the frequency of brushing reported was between 1-2 times/day (59.6%). Conclusion: It is concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the lives of the families of children who received dental care in a private institution in Belo Horizonte, changing the family income, the pattern of eating and oral hygiene of the minors.