ABSTRACT

It is surprising how many parents and nurses did not realize how important it was to start oral care in infancy. When our hospital started auditing adult oral care I was curious how pediatrics was doing. After sending a questioner out to parents of children admitted to the hospital and nurses working pediatrics not one noted this as an important factor in health care. No parent noted their Childs’ MD or any nurse during their postpartum period instructed them on the importance of starting oral care in infancy.
I then developed a poster presentation for the nurses which included information from the ADA and Nomours KidsHealth (which our hospital uses for patient education). Parent instruction sheets were printed in English and Spanish, coloring sheets were available for the children, and stickers were available to put on cups and emesis basins to help remind families to do oral care. Nurses were also reminded to write “Brush teeth twice a day” on the white boards with squares to check off when it was completed. These were ways to involve both parents and children in their care.
Just two months later I handed out the questioner again with 75% of nurses and 50% of parents (given to parents near the end of their stay) noting the importance of oral care to infants and children.