Objective To explore the developmental trajectories of oral hygiene compliance and its influencing factors in children after dental caries surgery.

Methods A prospective cohort study design was adopted. A total of 268 children who underwent dental caries surgery were selected as the research subjects. General and clinical data of the children were collected. The oral hygiene compliance changes after surgery were evaluated using the Oral Hygiene Compliance Scale. The developmental trajectories of oral hygiene compliance after surgery were described using the group-based trajectory model. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the influencing factors of the compliance developmental trajectories.

Results The oral hygiene compliance of children after dental caries surgery could be divided into three types of developmental trajectories: the high-compliance slow-decline group 49(18.28%), the medium-compliance slow-decline group 56(20.90%), and the low-compliance stable-change group 163(60.82%). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the child's gender, mother's educational level, father's smoking history, annual per capita household income, Social Support Scale score, Oral Health Self-Efficacy Scale score, and Expected Social Impact Scale score were all independent influencing factors for the oral hygiene compliance to present different types of developmental trajectories (P < 0.05).

Conclusion The oral hygiene compliance of children after dental caries surgery presents different types of developmental trajectories, and there are individual differences in their initial compliance levels and rates of change. Clinically, oral hygiene care intervention measures should be implemented according to the specific conditions of children to maintain their oral health.