Parents' knowledge of emergency management of avulsed permanent teeth in children and adolescents in the State of Qatar: a questionnaire cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: To elucidate the level of parental knowledge in Qatar regarding the management of avulsed teeth. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 400 parents attending their children's routine dental appointments. The questionnaire comprised of items on sociodemographics, parents' prior knowledge on management of avulsion, parents' willingness to replant avulsed teeth at the site of injury, and parents' opinion as to the best format for future parental education on the management of dental trauma. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were employed to assess the association between sociodemographic status and knowledge in the management of avulsion. RESULTS: The overall mean score of parents' knowledge was (23%). Only 23.3% (n = 93) of parents thought that it was possible to reinsert an avulsed permanent tooth. Out of those, only 12.9% (n = 12) indicated willingness to reinsert the tooth back into its socket, while 48.4% (n = 49) indicated that an avulsed tooth should be stored using physiological media. Less than one third (27.8%) indicated that they would seek professional help within 30 min. Males were less likely to give favourable answers when compared to females (OR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.22-0.84). Age groups "31-40" years and "41-50" years were more likely to give favourable answers when compared to 20-30 years age group (OR = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.05-8.0and OR = 3.8, 95% CI = 1.3-11.48; respectively). CONCLUSION: This study highlights critical deficiencies in parental knowledge on the management of tooth avulsion and the need to improve parents' knowledge by developing easily accessible onsite emergency management tools.

A prospective longitudinal controlled assessment of pain experience and oral health-related quality of life in adolescents undergoing fixed appliance treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To compare subjective pain experience and oral health-related quality of life (OH-QoL) in treated and untreated subjects over the first 3 months of fixed appliance therapy. SETTING AND SAMPLE POPULATION: The Department of Orthodontics, School of Medicine and Dentistry. One hundred and twenty-four subjects aged between 11 and 14 years either commencing or awaiting fixed appliance treatment. MATERIAL & METHODS: A prospective controlled longitudinal study design was applied to subjects, over a 3-month observation period, following the placement of fixed appliances. Socio-economic status, OH-QoL, pain experience and analgesic consumption were recorded on questionnaires at baseline (T0), 6 weeks (T1) and 3 months (T2). RESULTS: Oral symptoms and functional limitation domains of OH-QoL were found to worsen, during the follow-up period, in the test group (p = 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively). In the treated group, pain intensity declined significantly on days 3 and 2 at T1 and T2, respectively (p < 0.001). Analgesia was required during both periods in a total of 13 participants (24.5%) undergoing orthodontic treatment. CONCLUSION: Based on this prospective controlled study, the initial stages of fixed appliance treatment results in subjective pain experience, with subsequent reduction, and a significant impact on oral symptoms and functional limitation domains of OH-QoL.