Knowledge of dental students and dental interns about pediatric dental trauma management in Saudi dental universities

Abstract

The aims of this study were to evaluate the level of educational knowledge in the management of dental trauma in children, and to investigate the influence of pediatric dental education on the management of dental trauma among undergraduate dental students and dental interns. This cross-sectional study consisted of 314 dental students and dental interns who answered a questionnaire; questionnaire was based on some common knowledge aspects of dental trauma. Data was collected and entered into the database. Data was analysed through IBM SPSS version 23. Chi-square test was applied to examine the association between pediatric dental trauma management knowledge and level of students. Among all the dental students and dental interns, 260 (82.8%) had correct answer about the correct way to hold extruded teeth. Most of the participants (86.6%) had the knowledge and distinction between the types of Dental Trauma. A 73.9% of participants say that gentle rinsing with tap water is necessary to remove dirt from the root surface of an avulsed tooth. It was clearly answered to a question of Critical factors of success of treatment of avulsed tooth is the time between the accident and his arrival for treatment (75.5%).The current study shows that dental students and dental interns in the private and public Saudi universities have sufficient and necessary knowledge regarding the management of pediatric dental trauma. This means that Saudi universities provide knowledge to dental students regarding dental trauma management and treatment methods.