Paediatric dentists' role in child protection practice: Progress over time?

Child maltreatment (abuse and neglect) is a global public health problem. Healthcare professionals must contribute to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children at risk.

To determine whether paediatric dentists' rates of child protection training, experience and practice have changed and to identify factors currently associated with maltreatment recognition and referral.

A pre-piloted anonymous questionnaire was mailed to the UK-based British Society of Paediatric Dentistry members in 2005 (n = 789) and 2016 (n = 575). Analysis was conducted for practising dentists.

Response rates were 66.3% in 2005 and 62.4% in 2016. Increases were observed in respondents' postgraduate child protection training (87.2% vs. 99.7%), multi-agency training (27.9% vs. 49.2%), ever suspected (67.9% vs. 82.3%) and ever referred child maltreatment (30.7% vs. 61.0%). The proportion who had suspected maltreatment but never referred a child reduced from 37.2% to 21.3%. Having referred more than five times in the preceding five years rose from 0.4% to 14.6% of respondents, yet those seeing children with neglected dentitions daily or more frequently remained unchanged.

This repeated cross-sectional survey demonstrates a substantial improvement in UK paediatric dentists' training and practice, but a gap remains between suspecting and referring maltreatment concerns such that some children remain at risk.