Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practices regarding emergency management of dental trauma in children among school teachers: A cross-sectional questionnaire study

Abstract

Background: Due to increased prevalence of dental trauma in school-going children, knowledge regarding its emergency management is vital to groups commonly supervising the children such as school teachers and parents. Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding emergency management of dental trauma in children among school teachers. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted comprising 160 participants. A 15-item validated questionnaire containing four domains of demographic data, knowledge, attitude and practices was distributed among the participants. Descriptive analysis was done using IBM SPSS software version 20.0 (Chicago IL, USA). Results: It was found that 56.9%, 57.5% and 70% of school teachers respectively had low levels of knowledge, practice and attitude When correlation between knowledge, attitude and practice was studied, positive correlation was seen between them which signified low knowledge correlated with less positive attitude owing to less referral practices. Conclusions: There was inadequate knowledge about emergency management of dental trauma in children among school teachers. Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 2023: 52(2): 161-168