Knowledge and attitudes of dentists regarding traumatic dental injuries

The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge levels of dentists regarding the treatment of several dental injuries.

Study design: Cross-sectional study. A structured questionnaire was validated and sent electronically to the Professional Dental Schools of each Spanish region and subsequently to the affiliated dentists. The survey collected the dentists' demographic data and asked 11 questions regarding traumatic dental injuries and their potential complications and treatments. The relationships between the demographic data and the correct/incorrect answers regarding dental injuries were estimated by means of Pearson's chi-squared test and post hoc testing.

The survey was answered by 1532 dentists. None of the demographic variables was related to better knowledge. However, men, older dentists and more experienced dentists were related to having a self- evaluation of knowledge as comprehensive; 64.1% of the answers given by the respondents were correct. Surprisingly, having more clinical dental experience and a postgraduate degree were not related to better knowledge. The results revealed an uneven knowledge among dentists depending on the type of dental trauma injury. Questions on treatment of avulsion of immature teeth and complicated fractures had a correct answer frequency higher than 70%, while questions regarding intrusion and lateral luxation had a knowledge lower than 60% and less than 30%, respectively. More than 50% of dentists would apply splinting after replantation for more than 14 days.

Dentists need to improve their knowledge regarding the treatment of tooth intrusion, lateral luxation and avulsion of mature teeth as well as the use of splinting.