PARENTAL KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS FIRST AID MEASURES OF TOOTH AVULSION

Abstract

Most dental injuries occur at home in the presence of parents. Therefore, parents knowledge about the emergency management (ER) of tooth avulsion is essential for better prognosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of parents with different educational levels about the emergency management of tooth avulsion in Saudi Arabia and their attitude toward receiving further education on the emergency management of tooth avulsion.

A self-administered questionnaire was applied to parents of patients who attended the Faculty of Dentistry of King Abdulaziz University (KAUFD) from August to December 2016. The 23 questions assessed knowledge and attitude towards first aid measures of tooth avulsion. Data were collected and statistically analyzed using T test and one way ANOVA.

A total of 480 parents who attended KAUFD participated voluntarily in the study. Data revealed that 70.6% of the respondents did not have prior knowledge regarding the subject. The dentists (29.4%) was the source of information to those who had previous knowledge. There were statistical significant differences between parents gender (p= 0.000), nationality (p= 0.000), place of living (p= 0.000), and attitude towards learning (p= 0.000). However, there were no statistical significant differences in the mean knowledge between parents different levels of education (p= 0.910) and presence or absence of previous history of avulsion (p= 0.187).

The study findings showed that the majority of parents lack the basic knowledge needed for the emergency management of tooth avulsion and the level of education has no impact on their knowledge. Therefore, educational programs are needed for parents to know how to manage such cases as this will encourage them to seek immediate treatment.