Positive Parent-Child Interaction and Children's Oral Health: Findings From the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), 2020-2021.

Objective: The role of family relationships in oral health care management for children has received increasing attention as health systems and policy makers seek to improve outcomes and decrease disparities by addressing the social determinants of oral health. The aim of this study was to examine the association of positive parent-child interaction, represented by two age-specific objectives from Healthy People 2030, with oral health problems and unmet oral health needs in children ages 1-17 years in the U.S. from 2020 to 2021.

Methods: This cross-sectional, population-based study analyzed 83,977 children ages 1-17 years from the National Survey of Children's Health, 2020-2021. The exposure variable, parent-child interaction, and the two outcome variables, oral health problems and unmet oral health need, were measured using parent/caregiver survey responses. Weighted simple and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed. Final models were adjusted for demographic characteristics as well as parental, household, and neighborhood factors.

Results: Children from families who experience positive parent-child interaction had 25% lower odds of having any oral health problems (OR 0.75; 95% CI, 0.68-0.83) compared with children who did not experience positive parent-child interaction.

Conclusions: Experiencing positive parent-child interaction was associated with lower odds of children having any oral health problems. Future investigation to explore the specific mechanisms through which positive parent-child interaction is associated with children's oral health is warranted.