The aim of this study was to investigate paediatricians’ actual attitudes towards emergency management of dental injuries, need for potential improvement in their knowledge and motivation for further education.
A larger percentage (95%) of surveyed paediatricians have at least once encountered trauma in the practice and in this case 90% of them contacted the dentist. Three quarters of participants (76%) would correctly hold completely extruded tooth.
PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY LIBRARY: Scientific Publications in PDF FREE to download and share
In case of tooth or fragment preservation 60% of the subjects would place the tooth in the saline solution, and only 12% of the respondents would use milk as a transport medium.
All injuries involving the orofacial area are considered
a serious public health problem, they should be treated as an emergency, and their timely and appropriate emergency management can enhance favourable prognosis and outcome for the injured tissues.
In order to prevent aesthetic, functional, psychological and economic consequences for patients and their families, it is necessary for the injured child to visit the dental office immediately after injury.
When dental trauma occurs, parents, guardians, teachers, coaches or persons in a child’s vicinity are responsible for helping the injured child, and children are referred to paediatric dentists or paediatric surgeons but also to doctors of various specialties, most often paediatricians.
