Parent and Caregiver Engagement in Pediatric Oral Health: Decision-Making, Literacy, and Home Care

Oral health in infancy, childhood, and adolescence is shaped as much by family environments, beliefs, and routines as by clinical care. Parents and caregivers make daily decisions about feeding, fluoride use, toothbrushing, dental attendance, pain management, and when to seek preventive or restorative care. These decisions are influenced by oral health literacy, trust in professionals, cultural norms, social context, prior experiences, digital information, and the practical realities of family life. As pediatric oral health moves toward prevention, minimally invasive care, person-centered communication, and integrated care models, there is a clear need to better understand how caregivers engage with oral health information and how this engagement affects outcomes across the life course.This Research Topic, “Parent and Caregiver Engagement in Pediatric Oral Health: Decision-Making, Literacy, and Home Care,” seeks to advance knowledge on the role of parents, caregivers, and family networks in shaping pediatric oral health behaviors, service use, treatment choices, and long-term outcomes. We welcome work that examines how caregivers interpret risk, make decisions under uncertainty, balance competing health priorities, and adopt or resist recommendations related to prevention and treatment. We are also interested in how clinicians, educators, and health systems can support families through clearer communication, shared decision-making, culturally responsive care, and behavior-change approaches that are feasible in everyday settings.Recent work in this area points to a broader and more nuanced understanding of caregiver engagement. Oral health literacy is now understood not only as knowledge of disease and prevention, but also as the ability to access, assess, and act on information within complex health and social systems. At the same time, emerging research highlights the influence of caregiver beliefs, misinformation, digital media, family stress, socioeconomic constraints, disability-related needs, and community context on home care and care-seeking behavior. Research is also moving beyond traditional education models to include motivational approaches, digital supports, community-based partnerships, and interprofessional strategies that connect oral health with primary care, maternal and child health, schools, and public health services.This Research Topic aims to capture that wider landscape. We encourage submissions that explore caregiver engagement across diverse populations, including infants and preschool children, school-aged children, adolescents, and children with special health care needs or developmental conditions. We are especially interested in research that addresses inequities in pediatric oral health and identifies practical, scalable, and family-centered solutions. Contributions from clinical, behavioral, public health, educational, social science, and implementation perspectives are all welcome.Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:- Caregiver knowledge, beliefs, and decision-making in relation to oral health literacy, risk perception, trust, treatment acceptability, and choices around prevention and care- Home-based prevention and family practices, including supervised toothbrushing, feeding and dietary behaviors, fluoride use, and early childhood caries prevention and management- Communication and engagement strategies such as shared decision-making, motivational approaches, culturally responsive care, trauma-informed care, and family-centered clinical practice- Digital, community, and interprofessional models of support, including mobile health, teledentistry, school and primary care integration, and community-based or participatory approaches- Equity and inclusion in caregiver engagement, with attention to underserved communities and children with autism, disabilities, or other special health care needs- Outcomes and implementation, including oral health behaviors, service uptake, oral health-related quality of life, family burden, and evaluation of real-world interventions and policiesWe welcome original research, systematic and scoping reviews, qualitative and mixed-methods studies, intervention studies, implementation studies, policy analyses, and perspective articles that deepen understanding of how caregiver engagement can improve pediatric oral health. By bringing together work across disciplines and settings, this Research Topic aims to support more effective, equitable, and family-centered approaches to prevention, care, and oral health promotion for children. Topic editors: Helen H. Lee, Francine Costa Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79898/parent-and-caregiver-engagement-in-pediatric-oral-health-decision-making-literacy-and-home-care