The effect of a single educational input given to school teachers on patient's correct handling after dental trauma

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of mailed guidelines and seminars to school teachers on self-care actions taken by children after trauma. Data was collected 6 months before and 5 months after provision of the guidelines. Particulars of school children who sought dental consultation, types of injuries, the medium used to store avulsed teeth and the time elapsed from injury to dental consultation were recorded. A non-significant increase was observed in a number of children who sustained tooth avulsion from primary schools that belonged to a seminar group and from nursery schools that belonged to a mailed guidelines group. There were no significant differences before and after provision of guidelines in the number of patients with soft-tissue injury, periodontal injury and injury to hard dental structures. Of the patients who sustained tooth avulsion, 36 (54%) brought the involved tooth to the dental clinic, (29%) sought dental consultation later than 7 hours after injury. None of those patients stored the avulsed tooth in a recommended transport medium. The findings of this study indicate that a single educational input to school teachers is not enough to promote children's self-care after injury.