General dentists' knowledge, attitude, and practice guidelines toward pediatric dentistry

Abstract

Introduction: Pediatric dentists play an important role in treating primary teeth and providing oral health care needs for children. The prevention for diseases of the oral cavity, namely early childhood caries (ECC), abnormal oral habits, etc., at primary level is of great need in young children. General dentists also share an equal responsibility toward early screening, educating parents, and treating and referring the patient to the pediatric dentist whenever required. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice guidelines among general dentists in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, toward various treatment modalities in the pediatric dentistry using a questionnaire survey. Materials and Methods: A structured 25-item questionnaire was formulated in English and was distributed among 200 general dentists. The filled questionnaire survey was analyzed using the SPSS. Results: Among the respondents, the knowledge regarding treatment modalities in children was 59% said that pulpectomy is the first line of treatment for pulpal exposure, 66.5% said that crowns are necessary after pulpectomy, and 76% of general dentists said that they refer the special child to the pedodontist for the treatment. Among the respondents, 61.5% of the general dentists said that they can treat the patients with ECC with behavior management on the dental chair, and 32% had said that they can deal children with fear following tell-show-do technique. Conclusion: General dentists in Hyderabad city have got good knowledge toward various treatment modalities in preventive dentistry. The attitude is highly commendable, but in practice, patient's referral to the respectful profession is the utmost important step for the complete oral care.