KNOWLEDGE ABOUT TRAUMATIC DENTAL INJURIES : A SURVEY OF CROATIAN PEDIATRICIANS

Traumatske ozljede zuba su jedan od važnih problema oralnoga zdravlja u adolescenciji i djetinjstvu. Ova presječna studija procijenila je razinu znanja hrvatskih pedijatara o liječenju dentalnih trauma. Materijali i metode: Istraživanje je proučavalo osobne i profesionalne karakteristike, znanja i iskustva o dentalnim ozljedama kod 186 pedijatara. Podatci su procijenjeni Student-t testom ili jednosmjernom ANOVA-om, s Tukeyevim post-hoc. Razina značajnosti je postavljena na P≤0,05. Rezultati: Ukupna srednja vrijednost znanja pedijatara o traumatskim ozljedama zuba bila je 3,58±1,53, s maksimalnim mogućim rezultatom od sedam. Bolje znanje je uočeno kod muških pedijatara (3,89±1,44 vs 3,35±1,56, P=0,016), onih koji su bili svjedoci ozljeda zuba (3,95±1,44 vs 3,28±1,54, P=0,003), te onih koji su imali više od deset godina staža pedijatrijskoj praksi u usporedbi s onima koji su imali manje (3,98±1,60 vs 3,26±1,49, P=0,027). Rezultati višestruke linearne regresijske analize pokazali su značajnu ovisnost rezultata mjerenja ukupnog znanja o traumatskim ozljedama zuba i dužini pedijatrijskog staža (β =-0,254, P=0,002) i broju liječenih bolesnika dnevno (β=-0,187, P=0,030). Zaključak: Pedijatri su pokazali umjereno znanje o hitnim terapijskim postupcima kod traumatske ozljede. Liječenje hitnih slučajeva dentalnih trauma treba preporučiti kao dio njihove obrazovne obuke.Objectives: Dental trauma is one of the important oral health problems in adolescent and childhood. This cross-sectional study assessed the level of knowledge of Croatian pediatricians concerning the management of dental trauma. Materials and methods: A questioner based study investigated personal and professional characteristics, knowledge and experience with dental injuries among 186 pediatricians. The data were evaluated by the Student t-test or one-way ANOVA, with Tukey’s post-hoc. The level of significance was set at P≤0.05. Results: The overall mean self-reported knowledge of dental trauma was 3.58±1.53, with a maximum possible score of seven. Better knowledge was observed among male pediatricians (3.89±1.44 vs 3.35±1.56, P=0.016), those who witnessed dental injuries (3.95±1.44 vs 3.28±154, P=0.003), and who had more than ten years of pediatric practices compared to those who had less (3.98± 1.60 vs 3.26±1.49, P=0.027). Results of multiple linear regression analysis showed significant dependence of measured overall dental injuries knowledge score with pediatrician’s practice settings (B=-0.254, P=0.002) and the number of treated patients per day (B=-0.187, P=0.030). Conclusion: Pediatricians had moderate knowledge regarding preliminary care of traumatic dental injuries. Dental trauma emergency management should be recommended as part of their educational training