Purpose <p>Children and adolescents represent a group strongly prone to the irrational use of medications without medical control. This study aimed to evaluate the practice of self-medication by parents/guardians due to oral health problems in their children.</p> Methods <p>A cross-sectional study was carried out with 108 parents/guardians of children. Participants provided socioeconomic data and answered a self-administered questionnaire about the practice of self-medication related to oral problems in their children. Descriptive and bivariate analyzes were performed (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05).</p> Results <p>The participants had a mean age of 38.3 ± 9.1&#xa0;years and were mostly female (<i>n</i> = 86; 79.6%). Almost a third (<i>n</i> = 35; 32.4%) of the participants have already self-medicated their children due to oral problems. There was a significant association between having self-medicated the children and having already self-medicated himself (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001) and being in favor of self-medication (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). The most frequently self-medicated oral problems were symptoms of tooth eruption (<i>n</i> = 25; 71.4%), toothache (<i>n</i> = 21; 60.0%) and oral/traumatic ulcers (<i>n</i> = 21; 60.0%). Temporary pain relief was the main motivator for the practice of self-medication (94.3%). Analgesics (82.9%) were the medicines most used. Almost a third (<i>n</i> = 10; 28.6%) of the participants who have already self-medicated their children believe that the practice of self-medication does not bring any problems to the children's health.</p> Conclusion <p>Parents/guardians self-medicate their children in cases of oral problems and believe that the practice of self-medication does not harm the child's health.</p>