Elementary Schoolteachers' Knowledge and Decision-making Regarding Dental Trauma

To evaluate elementary schoolteachers' knowledge and decision making regarding dental trauma in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among elementary schoolteachers (n=442). Questions encompassed sociodemographic characteristics and decision making regarding dental trauma. Data on the appropriate answer regarding what to do with a traumatised or avulsed tooth were analysed with multiple logistic regressions, adjusting for age, gender, work experience and previous training.

The study population consisted largely of women (90%), was 40 to 49 years old (44.3%) and had more than 15 years of work experience (56.6%). Women (OR=2.68/p=0.041), teachers under 30 years old (OR=4.95/p=0.041), those with more than 15 years of work experience (OR=8.95/p<0.001) or those who had already received previous dental trauma instructions (OR=1.95/ p=0.119) were more likely to choose the appropriate answer for an avulsion situation. Teachers under 30 years old (OR=2.88/ p=0.279), those with more than 15 years of work experience (OR=4.55/p=0.001) or those who had received previous training (OR=3.39/p=0.009) presented higher probabilites of choosing the appropriate answer for a crown fracture event.

Greater work experience or previous instructions on how to approach dental trauma in the school environment were found to be major factors in schoolteachers' decision making regarding dental trauma.