{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T10:44:02Z","timestamp":1789469042621,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,3]],"date-time":"2025-12-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764720000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pediatr. Rep.","Pediatric Reports"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Aim: Early childhood caries (ECC) is a widespread and multifactorial oral disease that affects children globally. Parents\u2019 knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors are crucial in preventing ECC and supporting oral health. This study evaluated Croatian parents\u2019 understanding of children\u2019s oral health, their awareness of ECC risk factors, and their oral hygiene practices. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an anonymous and voluntary online questionnaire from October to December 2024 among 948 parents of children aged 1\u20137 years across Croatia. The study assessed parents\u2019 knowledge of oral health, their understanding of the relationship between risk factors and early childhood caries, habits related to oral hygiene care, children\u2019s experiences with oral health problems, parents\u2019 self-assessment of their knowledge, as well as both their own and their children\u2019s general and oral health and hygiene practices. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, Mann\u2013Whitney U test, and Kruskal\u2013Wallis test. Results: Overall parental knowledge was moderate, with significantly higher scores among older parents, those with university education, healthcare workers, and families with higher incomes (p &lt; 0.05). Parents demonstrated good awareness of the importance of supervising tooth brushing until age seven (93.8%) and fluoride use (81.8%); yet gaps persisted regarding bacterial transmission, tooth eruption, and early orthodontic evaluation. Preventive dental visits were frequently delayed, and only 25.0% of parents reported using interdental cleaning aids. Caries was the most common oral health issue among children (22.3%). Conclusions: Despite moderate awareness and some adherence to preventive measures, significant knowledge and practice gaps remain among Croatian parents. Targeted educational interventions and nationwide preventive strategies are necessary to strengthen oral health literacy and reduce ECC prevalence.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pediatric17060130","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,3]],"date-time":"2025-12-03T08:44:28Z","timestamp":1764751468000},"page":"130","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Early Childhood Oral Health: Insights into Knowledge, Preventive Practices, and Risk Awareness from a Croatian Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Marija","family":"Matijevi\u0107","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Restorative Dental Medicine and Endodontics, Study of Dental Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-3637-7770","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marija","family":"Badrov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Restorative Dental Medicine and Endodontics, Study of Dental Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2882-934X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lidia","family":"Gavi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Restorative Dental Medicine and Endodontics, Study of Dental Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5365-9816","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonija","family":"Tadin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Restorative Dental Medicine and Endodontics, Study of Dental Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia"},{"name":"Department of Dental Medicine, University Hospital of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Anil, S., and Anand, P.S. 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