Preschool teachers' knowledge and attitudes about dental trauma in Rijeka, Croatia: a cross-sectional study / Conocimientos y actitudes de los profesores de nivel preescolar sobre el trauma dental en Rijeka, Croacia: un estudio transversal

Introduction: Traumatic tooth injuries often occur in childhood. They are not life-threatening, but they can cause a number of complications that can affect the quality of life. Proper first aid can significantly facilitate further dental treatment. The aim of this research was to evaluate preschool teachers' knowledge and attitudes about dental trauma and their motivation for further education. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 54 preschool teachers. It was carried out in the form of a questionnaire consisting of 23 questions regarding traumatic tooth injuries, experiences and knowledge and teachers' interest in additional education.Results: Most of the preschool teachers, 68.51%, did not witness any dental traumas during their work experience. From the teachers who witnessed dental trauma, only 11.76% gave first aid and none of them called the dentist and followed their instructions. In case of dental avulsion 72.22% would keep the avulsed tooth in a dry gauze or tissue. Even though 81.49% consider themselves uninformed about dental, all of them are interested in additional education. Conclusion: Despite the insufficient knowledge about dental trauma, its management, and first aid it is encouraging that all of the preschool teachers included in this research are motivated to educate themselves more on this subject.

Introducción: Las lesiones dentales traumáticas ocurren a menudo en la niñez. No ponen en peligro la vida, pero pueden causar una serie de complicaciones que pueden afectar la calidad de vida. Los primeros auxilios adecuados pueden facilitar significativamente el tratamiento dental posterior. El objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar el conocimiento y las actitudes de los profesores de preescolar sobre el trauma dental y su motivación para la educación superior. Material y Métodos: Este estudio transversal incluyó a 54 maestros de preescolar. Se llevó a cabo en forma de un cuestionario que constaba de 23 preguntas sobre lesiones dentales traumáticas, experiencias y conocimientos y el interés de los profesores en la educación adicional. Resultados: La mayoría de los maestros de preescolar (68,51%) no presenció ningún traumatismo dental durante su experiencia laboral. De los profesores que presenciaron traumatismos dentales, solo el 11,76% dio primeros auxilios y ninguno llamó al dentista y siguió sus instrucciones. En caso de avulsión dental, el 72,22% mantendría el diente avulsionado en una gasa o tejido seco. A pesar de que el 81,49% se considera desinformado sobre odontología, todos están interesados en educación adicional. Conclusion: A pesar del conocimiento insuficiente sobre el trauma dental, su manejo y primeros auxilios, es alentador que todos los maestros de preescolar incluidos en esta investigación estén motivados para educarse más en este tema

Psychosocial and Economic Status of the Parents with Children with and without Tooth Trauma.

BACKGROUND: The main goal of this research is to try and understand influence of psychological and social factors in children with tendencies to repeat tooth trauma. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Research included 147 patients, children of preschool and school age (88 boys and 59 girls). In the research patients were divided in two age groups: 5-8 and 9-12 years. In both groups there were 49 patients with no experience of dental trauma and 69 patients with experience of one dental trauma and 29 patients with repeated dental trauma. All patients that were involved in the study had previous experience with dental and medical treatment. Study included evaluation of dental anxiety and also factors that caused dental phobia previous their visit to the office in the children with no dental trauma compared to repeat dental trauma patients. On the whole study group differences considering sex, age and psychosocial status in the level of dental anxiety and dental fear were also measured. RESULTS: Categories of children without trauma and with one or multiple trauma showed that it is a similar sex division in the categories. In the no trauma group participation of the boys is lower (46.9%) while in the group with repeated trauma their participation is significantly higher (79.3%). Based on that the risk of repeated dental trauma is characteristic of boys. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study show that tested psychosocial variables do not differentiate participants according to the tested groups or in other words there is no difference between tested groups in their psychosocial standing.

Dental caries experience in Croatian school children in Primorsko-Goranska county.

BACKGROUND: Dental caries as an infectious disease is still a major oral public health issue. As documented in some recent studies, it has been recognized as the most common chronic childhood disease. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate caries prevalence, DMFT and dmft scores, as opposed to caries free children at the age of 6 years from a well developed western region of Primorsko-Goranska county. The purpose was also to evaluate a Significant Caries Index (SiC) and a Restoration Index (RI) in the same study sample of 6 year olds. METHODS: Data for a sample of 1,825 (868 girls and 957 boys) children was collected and analyzed by using Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U Tests. RESULTS: Results showed that the mean dmft was 4.68 +/- 4.19, and the mean DMFT was 0.22 +/- 0.69. D/d component constituted a major part of caries score (DMFT/dmft) in both primary and permanent dentitions in the population of 6 years old children. Caries prevalence was 74.5 in primary dentition and 11.9 in permanent dentition. Significant Caries Index value (SiC) was 0.66 for permanent and 9.6 for primary teeth, respectively. The Restoration Index (RI) was 20.1 for primary and 39.5 for permanent dentition. CONCLUSION: The results obtained in this study revealed that dental caries still appears to be quite a significant problem among 6 year olds. However, collected data, particularly considering the SiC Index, can be used for further planning of preventive and restorative dental treatments as well as setting up future goals for the prevention of dental caries in Croatian school children of Primorsko-Goranska county.

Dental health and dental care in children with cerebral palsy.

The aim of this study was to determine a difference between children with cerebral palsy (CP) and healthy children, regarding health condition of teeth and oral tissuses. Disfunction of masticatory system, in children with CP, causes many problems with mastication. Nonfunctional mastication is related with the consumption of mushy food and decreased selfcleaning of occlusal and aproximal surfaces. All that leads to higher incidence of dental caries. Comparing the DMTF/dft (decayed, missing, filled tooth) index, it is evident that there is no statistically significant difference in a tooth morbidity between the group of healthy children and group of children with CP. The healthy children have statistically significant more teeth with fillings with respect to children with CP. Extractions are more common in children with CP. There is no statistically significant difference between those two groups regarding decayed teeth, one of components of DMFT index. Decayed components are more common than the extractions and fillings in both groups, which shows the insufficient curative care for all children in both groups. It can be concluded that there is a certain need of early beginning and a better organization of the preventive pediatric and dental care, in order to decrease the appearence of dental decay and increase the level of dental health, in this challenged population.

Structural analysis of dental fear in children with and without dental trauma experience.

The aim of the study was to evaluate dental fear in children with and without dental injuries in a randomly selected children in Croatia (59 girls and 88 boys). Children were divided into three groups depending on dental trauma experience. They were also divided into two age groups: 5-8 and 9-12 years. Only dental trauma to the permanent teeth was included in the study. The CFSS-DS, CDAS and CMFQ were used for evaluation of dental anxiety and the ISP Hollingshead Index of Social Position was calculated for evaluation of social status. The mean values of CDAS, CFSS-DS and CMFQ tests revealed that the anxiety level decreases with increasing experience of dental injury. The analysis of variance performed for CDAS showed a significant difference between children with and without dental trauma (p = 0,010). Regarding the groups, the analysis of variance for CMFQ (p = 0,021) and CFSS-DS (p = 0,001) showed a significant difference, as well as regarding age (CMFQ; p = 0,001 and CFSS-DS; p = 0,016). Cronbach's alpha coefficients revealed the highest reliability for CFSS-DS (alpha = 0,910). Pearson's correlation coefficients revealed significant correlations between the anxiety scores, age and ISP values for children without dental trauma, and between the anxiety scores and age for children with repeated dental trauma. The results of the ISP Hollingshead Index exhibited the highest frequency in children with dental injuries who belonged to the families with poor social background (ISP = 44-60). No significant difference was obtained between children with and without dental injuries depending on either gender or the ISP value.