Traumatismos dentarios: su conocimiento en los padres de familia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the general knowledge that parents have about dental trauma in children receiving dental care from our department. We applied a questionnaire which parents had to fill. After this, they received an information pamphlet about the subject. The survey was applied to 100 persons in charge of the infant patients. The questionnaire had various multiple choice questions about dental trauma which were organized in three groups: 1. General information of the inquired persons, 2. Past experience and previous knowledge of the subject, 3. Questions about different dental trauma situations. Once this information was gathered, all this data was collected for statistical analysis. The Chi square method was used. The results showed a poor parental knowledge: 87% of the surveyed people never received any information about handling a dental emergency situation of trauma; only 19% had a correct knowledge of what to do in this situation, half of the surveyed people (49%) showed interest in recovering an avulsed tooth, and only 18% of them would handle the
situation correctly. This study showed that very low or none information about this topic had ever been provided to the people in this study. Therefore the implementation of information campaigns is necessary. The management of a dental emergency situation of trauma is not a topic to be left off, its frequency and the many aspects related to it make dental trauma a critical part in Dentistry.