A study of mothers' attitudes towards the prevention of caries with particular reference to fluoridation and vaccination.

Three hundred and fifteen mothers of pre-school children from socially deprived areas in Scotland were interviewed to assess their knowledge of, and attitudes towards, caries prevention. Thirty-five per cent of them believed that the dental profession had the most important part to play in the prevention of dental disease, while thirty-five per cent were complacent about their children's teeth and did not feel that preventive measures were necessary. Sixty-seven per cent thought that a caries vaccine would be acceptable if it posed no health risks and reduced caries experience by 50 per cent. This proportion increased to 78 per cent if all caries could be avoided by being immunized. Significantly more mothers held positive attitudes towards a hypothetical vaccine than to the more realistic prospect of fluoridation of public water supplies. This study has shown that mothers in deprived areas have little understanding of how to control dental disease and see little point in taking a personal initiative to alter their children's behaviour to reduce the risk of caries. They prefer to leave the control of disease to the dental profession. The idea that dental disease might be reduced by a vaccine was more acceptable than fluoridation.