ABSTRACT Background Pediatric patients rely on their caregivers to make informed decisions about their oral health, which are influenced by caregivers' perceptions and the factors that shape those perceptions. Aim To evaluate if several individual, family, and community‐level influences are associated with caregiver‐reported perception of pediatric oral health in the United States using two self‐reported measures as discordant or concordant perception. Design This cross‐sectional study examined data from the 2021 National Survey of Children's Health using survey‐weighted bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression to explore predictors of multilevel influences of caregiver‐reported perception of children's oral health. Results Of 29 452 caregiver participants, discordant perception was most strongly associated with having children ages 6–12 years (AOR: 2.27, 95% CI: 1.86, 2.77), lacking child health insurance (AOR: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.16, 2.85), not being from a two‐caregiver household (AOR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.26, 2.16), positive special healthcare needs status (AOR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.68), having at least one caregiver born outside of the United States (AOR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.68), and education ≤ high school (AOR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.65). Conclusion Factors across multiple levels were associated with discordant caregiver‐reported perception of pediatric oral health status of US children.
Linaksita et al. (2026) studied this question.