Cross-cultural Adaptation of the Dental Neglect Scale for 5-year-old Children in Peru

The Dental Neglect Scale (DNS) is an instrument to measure the magnitude of negligence in dental care, which was initially created in English and aimed at adolescents. In 2021, Soares et al. published a cross-cultural adaptation of this questionnaire into Portuguese. The aim of this study is to cross-culturally adapt and validate a novel Spanish version of the DNS in 5-year-old children. This will allow evidence of dental neglect, guide further preventive measures in this population, and provide multidisciplinary support.

We followed the protocol suggested by Beaton et al. It consists of initial translation, translation-synthesis, back-translation, expert committee review, pretesting, and evaluation of the adaptation process. About 179 questionnaires of parents/guardians of children aged 5 years who matched inclusion criteria were evaluated from 2023 to 2024.

The study reported 10 points as a minimum score (lesser neglect), 30 points as a maximum score (greater neglect), and 18.69 points as a mean score (greater neglect). Overall, 91.6% of respondents had a score of "greater neglect," and only 8.4% of parents/guardians surveyed showed a score of "lesser neglect."

The novel Spanish version of the DNS can be safely used in 5-year-old patients requiring dental neglect assessment. Further use of this questionnaire will help parents/guardians to improve their children's dental care.

The pediatric dentist has an important role in detecting characteristics of dental neglect, using this instrument to confirm suspicions and take the necessary measures that allows parents/guardians to give their child a better quality of life or report the case to the competent entities to help the child.

Vásquez CDP, Perona GA. Cross-cultural Adaptation of the Dental Neglect Scale for 5-year-old Children in Peru. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2025;18(7):772-775.