Table 1 Select questions from semi-structured interview guide

Sample Demographics

 1. Can you please tell me about your family or the people you live with?

  ◦ Who do you live with?

  ◦ How many children do you have?

  ◦ How old is your child in the EHS program?

Early Head Start Parent-to-Parent Communication

 2. How well do you know some of the other parents and children in the Early Head Start program?

  ◦ How often do you see them? Talk to them?

  ◦ What kinds of things do you talk about with them?

Family Oral Health Practices

 3. As you know, our research is trying to learn more about oral health. Can you tell me about what you do regularly to maintain your oral health?

  ◦ When do you usually prefer to brush? Why?

  ◦ How similar is it for the other adults in your family?

  ◦ Would you make any changes to maintaining your oral health?

 4. Our study is focused on your children under age 4. How do you or your family maintain healthy teeth for your child/your children under 4?

  ◦ What times of the day does brushing usually happen (morning, evening, both, other times?)

  ◦ Why are those the best times to brush?

  ◦ Why do they brush that often?

 5. How did your child learn how to brush his/her teeth?

  ◦ At what age did you start brushing his/her teeth? Why?

  ◦ At what age did or do you expect a child to start brushing his/her own teeth? Why?

 6. What do you think are the most important aspects of caring for your child’s teeth? Why?

  ◦ What are your main concerns?

  ◦ How likely do you think that your child will have any challenges with their teeth? Why?

 7. You mentioned that you have older children. Are there experiences that you’ve had with their toothbrushing habits that have influenced what you now do with your younger child? IF YES: Can you tell me about that?

Brushing Narratives

 8. To help me understand more about parents’ lives, I’d like to know more about your daily routine. Please think about this morning. Could you walk me through what went on as you were getting ready for the day?

  ◦ Tell me about the children. Who got the young children ready and how did that go?

  ◦ Where did toothbrushing fit into your daily morning routine?

   ▪ Who takes care of your child/children’s toothbrushing?

  ◦ Did the toothbrushing actually occur as planned? What happened?

   ▪ How easy or difficult was it to get the brushing done?

   ▪ What did you do to keep him/her engaged while brushing? (e.g., Did you do another activity while toothbrushing?) How well did that work?

   ▪ How long did this all take?

  ◦ Is this what morning usually look like? Why or why not?

  ▪ How similar or different is it on the weekdays vs. the weekends?

 9. Similarly, I want to get a general idea of what happens in the evenings. Please think back to last night before bed. Could you walk me through what went on as you were getting ready for bed?

  ◦ Tell me about the children. Who got the young children ready for bed and how did that go?

  ◦ Where does toothbrushing fit into your nightly routine?

   ▪ Who takes care of your young child/children’s toothbrushing?

  ◦ Did the toothbrushing actually occur as planned? What happened?

   ▪ How easy or difficult was it to get the brushing done?

   ▪ What did you do to keep him/her engaged while brushing? (e.g., Did you do another activity while toothbrushing?) How well did that work?

   ▪ How long did all this take?

  ◦ Is this what nights usually look like? Why or why not?

   ▪ How similar or different is it on the weekdays vs. the weekends?

 10. What usually gets in the way of brushing your young child’s teeth?

 11. What ways can you overcome these challenges?