Trying to encourage young children to follow a daily dental hygiene routine isn’t always easy, but there might be another way that parents can help control cavities, according to a new study that says parenting styles can play a role in tooth decay.
Researchers found that children with parents who displayed more supportive behaviour were likely to have fewer cavities than parents who were more negative about their children’s behaviour. They looked at the parenting styles and child behavior of 132 parent/child groups who went to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio for their first dental visit. The children in the study were 3-6 years of age.
Authoritative parents who provided discipline and guidance, while still giving the child some freedom, were compared to permissive parents who didn’t control their child’s decisions and tended to ignore misbehavior. It was found that 80% of the children whose parents were described as authoritative had cavities, compared to 97% of the children with parents described as permissive.
