Oral health concerns with sweetened medicaments: Pediatricians’ acuity

BACKGROUND: Administration of sweetened medicaments poses many oral health related problems in children due to the lack of awareness among the pediatricians regarding their ill effects. PURPOSE: To assess pediatricians’ awareness and attitudes toward the use of liquid pediatric medicines and their relationship with dental caries and erosion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among the pediatricians residing in Nellore city. Data were obtained from 55 pediatricians using questionnaires. RESULTS: Among the respondents, 95.6% prescribed liquid medicaments, 51.1% expressed that they may be associated with dental effects, 60% were not aware regarding the sweetness of medicaments, whereas majority of them (77.8%) opined that children complained regarding the taste, 73.3% stated that sugar substitutes were used as sweetening agents, 70.9% believed that they were not acidic, 68.9% did not recommend brushing after intake of medicines, 90% failed to deliver oral health instructions, and 54.5% believed that lack of oral hygiene was a contributing factor for development of dental caries. CONCLUSION: Majority of the respondents prescribed liquid medicaments and were unaware regarding the sweetening agents and acidity, which cause ill effects on the dental hard tissues. Most of them neither recommended nor delivered oral hygiene instructions (OHI) after prescribing sweetened liquid medicaments. Hence, OHI should be delivered to enhance the oral health related quality of life in children.