What do polish parents know about dental trauma and its management in children's treatment? A questionnaire study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the knowledge of Polish parents concerning traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) and their management in children and to assess the influence of TDI experience on parents' knowledge. METHODS: A questionnaire study conducted from May 2014 to February 2015 involved 741 randomly selected individual parents of children aged 1-17 receiving treatment at the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at the Medical University of Warsaw. The questionnaire consisted of 28 questions concerning TDI management. RESULTS: The study included 600 questionnaires subjected to statistical analysis using a χ2 independence test and Spearman's rank correlation (p < .05). Results show that 68% of parents have never received information about TDI management. As many as 80.5% were unaware of the possibility of immediate replantation of an avulsed tooth; over 60% would not be capable of choosing a suitable transport medium for such a tooth. Over 12% of TDI-experienced parents were unaware of a suitable transport medium for an avulsed tooth. Three times as many inexperienced parents as parents with TDI experience would place an avulsed tooth in saline solution. The independence test presented a strong correlation between parents' education and their knowledge about TDI management. As many as 80% of parents assessed their knowledge about TDI as inadequate. CONCLUSIONS: It appears necessary to introduce programmes for parents to raise their level of awareness concerning this topic.

Oral Health Knowledge of Pregnant Women on Pregnancy Gingivitis and Children's Oral Health.

OBJECTIVE: Pregnancy gingivitis and early childhood caries remain prevalent in Hong Kong. The aim of this study was to assess pregnant women's knowledge and beliefs related to pregnancy gingivitis and children's oral health. STUDY DESIGN: An outreach survey was carried out in a clinic that provided antenatal examination. A written oral health questionnaire related to pregnancy gingivitis and early childhood caries was administered to pregnant women. Of the 106 pregnant women who enrolled in the study, 100 completed the questionnaires. RESULTS: Among the 100 subjects, only 39% correctly identified that hormonal changes contribute to pregnancy gingivitis. Only 36% identified red and swollen gums as signs of gingivitis. Furthermore, 53% of the surveyed pregnant women were not sure about the amount of toothpaste to administer to a child aged 18 months to 5 years. Almost 50% assumed that a replanted avulsed tooth would probably not survive within a short extra-alveolar period of less than 60 minutes. CONCLUSION: Prenatal women generally lack knowledge of a common oral disease that occurs during pregnancy and of what constitutes adequate oral health care for children. Oral health care education should be implemented as part of a prenatal care program.

Evaluation of sixth grade primary schoolchildren's knowledge about avulsion and dental reimplantation.

Dental trauma, particularly tooth avulsion, is a frequent cause of tooth loss in children, adolescents, and young adults. The avulsed tooth should be immediately reimplanted in its alveolus. This procedure can be performed by anyone at the accident site and not only by dental surgeons. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the knowledge of sixth graders of the city of Araçatuba, SP, about dental avulsion and tooth reimplantation through a structured and standardized survey. Our sample consisted of 778 students. The data collected was processed using the program EPIINFO 2000. Most students were around 12 years of age and 94.5% related to practice some kind of sports. Results demonstrated that the possibility of tooth reimplantation after dental avulsion is not acknowledged among these students and dental traumatism was associated to caries, toothache, and use of orthodontic appliances. Only 18.9% of the students associated dental traumatism to an impact trauma; 3.6% would store the tooth in milk, and 3.1% believed the tooth could be reimplanted by anyone present at the accident site. In summary, the results show an overall the lack of knowledge about dental traumatism and highlight the need of special programs designed to educate school-aged students about emergency procedures to handle cases of dental traumatisms.

Knowledge of firefighters with special paramedic training of the emergency management of avulsed teeth.

Immediate replantation into the socket is the ideal procedure in cases of accidental avulsion of permanent teeth. In Brazil, firefighters with special paramedic training are in charge of providing first-aid care to victims of road accidents and might have to deal with tooth avulsions. This study assessed the knowledge of firefighters regarding the emergency management of avulsed teeth. Information was collected from a questionnaire submitted to 110 volunteer firefighters in seven cities in the São Paulo State (Brazil). The results revealed that 70.9% of the respondents did not know what tooth avulsion was; 53.6% did not know what tooth replantation was or defined it incorrectly; 60% would not act properly in tooth avulsion cases; 20.9% did not consider replantation of the avulsed tooth into the socket as a treatment option; the ideal time interval for tooth replantation was unknown to 40% of the interviewees; 90% of the participants answered that they would not be able to perform tooth replantation. Among those who considered themselves unable to perform tooth replantation, 47.3% chose saline as the best storage medium for an avulsed tooth, 21.8% chose milk, 3.6% chose the patient's mouth and 20% reported not knowing where to store the tooth; 81.8% of the firefighters reported not to have ever received any specific directions on tooth replantation and 100% of them considered this knowledge a requirement for first-aid care to accident victims. In conclusion, the knowledge of the surveyed firefighters regarding emergency management after tooth avulsion was unsatisfactory in several aspects that are important for the success of replantation procedures. Firefighters with special paramedic training should be educated on how to proceed in cases of dentoalveolar traumas and tooth avulsions in order to improve treatment prognosis and increase the survival rate of replanted teeth.

Knowledge and attitude of 2,000 parents (urban and rural - 1,000 each) with regard to avulsed permanent incisors and their emergency management, in and around Davangere.

It is well recognized today that for long-term success, the management of traumatized teeth optimally should be carried out as soon as possible. Since, majority of traumatic injuries occur at home, the ultimate prognosis of an avulsed tooth may depend on knowledge of the treatment procedure, possessed by his or her parents. The purpose of this study was therefore to evaluate the parental knowledge and attitude regarding the emergency management of avulsed teeth in children (in Davangere--both urban and rural, 1,000 each).

Socio-economic burden of permanent incisor replantation on children and parents.

This study describes the socio-economic burden and attitudes of children and their parents following replantation of avulsed incisors. Records of 80 patients with 99 avulsion injuries treated in a teaching hospital clinic from 1988 to 1999 were reviewed. Mean age at time of injury was 10.6 years (range = 6.6-17.7 years). Complete records for a minimum of 1 year were obtained for 43 patients with 60 replanted incisors. Mean treatment procedures provided during the first year included 5.5 diagnostic periapical radiographs, 1.9 occlusal radiographs, 1.3 pulpectomies, and 2.7 pulp medicament applications. The mean estimated treatment cost and direct time (dentist) for first-year post-trauma management was 1465 dollars CAD and 7.2 h, respectively. Treatment costs were significantly higher during the first year post-trauma for patients who had their incisors extracted (P = 0.04), but there was no significant difference in direct treatment time between the two groups (P = 0.19). Twenty-one patient-parent pairs were surveyed for a number of qualitative factors. Ninety per cent of patients and 86% of parents reported that school and work time was lost. Even after having gone through the painful experience of replantation, the demands of recall, and in some cases, extraction, the majority of patients (67%) and parents (81%) stated that they would have still made the same (replantation) decision. Patient and parent responses were not statistically different (P = 0.453). Almost half the parents stated they would be willing to pay over 2000 dollars CAD to save an incisor. Patients rated retention of an incisor as significantly more important than infraocclusion. This is the first study to quantify the treatment burden of replantation of avulsion injuries exclusively in the pediatric population. This study describes the socio-economic burden and responsibilities of patient/parent and dentist and their role in informed consent.