{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T13:00:38Z","timestamp":1785416438149,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781049600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"University of Oradea"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00wzhv093","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: Child dental neglect is a clinically significant form of maltreatment that frequently reflects broader challenges related to caregiving within the family environment. Although oral manifestations have been described in prior research, the socio-behavioral profile of responsible caregivers remains insufficiently characterized, particularly in Central and Eastern European contexts. This study aimed to identify caregiver-level socio-behavioral characteristics associated with child dental neglect and to examine their relationships with clinical outcomes. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on 333 children (aged 4\u201317 years) diagnosed with dental neglect, presenting at a municipal hospital and a private dental practice in Oradea, Romania (2020\u20132024). Caregiver-level variables included age, educational attainment, socioeconomic status, health condition, substance use, and family structure. Associations were analyzed using Fisher\u2019s Exact Test, Pearson Chi-Square, and Mann\u2013Whitney U test, with Bonferroni correction applied where appropriate. Results: Most caregivers were young adults (93.1%), with low educational attainment (40.2% had no formal schooling) and high rates of alcohol use (47.1%). Low family income was present in 89.2% of cases and was significantly associated with non-adherence to the dental treatment plan (p\u2009 = \u20090.039). Caregivers without formal education were associated with neglect in rural areas (43.4% vs. 26.2%; p\u2009 &lt; \u20090.001). Children of drug-using caregivers were significantly older at presentation (median: 12 vs. 8 years; p\u2009 = \u20090.014), and caregiver drug use was more prevalent in urban settings (18.0% vs. 1.8%; p\u2009 &lt; \u20090.001). Over half of the children (52.9%) came from disrupted family environments. Conclusions: Dental neglect was consistently associated with young, poorly educated, and financially disadvantaged caregivers exhibiting high rates of substance use and unstable family structures. These factors may interact in complex ways, highlighting the multifactorial nature of dental neglect. Dental professionals are well positioned for early identification and have a professional and ethical responsibility to integrate child safeguarding into routine clinical practice.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children13060801","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,11]],"date-time":"2026-06-11T05:50:58Z","timestamp":1781157058000},"page":"801","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Socio-Behavioral Characteristics of Parents\/Guardians Associated with Child Dental Neglect: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Analytical Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Anamaria Violeta","family":"\u021au\u021buianu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 4 Universit\u0103\u021bii Street, 410087 Oradea, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-4555-1364","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dan Alexandru","family":"Sl\u0103vescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 4 Universit\u0103\u021bii Street, 410087 Oradea, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7275-9986","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abel Emanuel","family":"Moca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 4 Universit\u0103\u021bii Street, 410087 Oradea, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Teodora","family":"\u0218tef\u0103nescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 4 Universit\u0103\u021bii Street, 410087 Oradea, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lucian Roman","family":"\u0218ipo\u0219","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 4 Universit\u0103\u021bii Street, 410087 Oradea, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Horia","family":"C\u00e2lniceanu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Anton Sculean Research Center for Periodontal and Peri-Implant Diseases, Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Dental Medicine Victor Babe\u0219, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7883-7236","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anca","family":"Ionel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Iuliu Ha\u021bieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"299","DOI":"10.1007\/s40653-019-0247-y","article-title":"Dental Neglect","volume":"13","author":"Spiller","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. 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