Recognizing and Intervening in Domestic Violence: Proactive Role for Dentistry

Violence within families and in intimate relationships is now recognized as a widespread problem. Abuse tends to recur and may continue until the victim dies as a result of his or her injuries. Every effort should be made to intervene and stop this chain of events so that the cycle of violence will cease. Although victims are often reluctant to report their abuse, the fac that about 75% of physical injuries are inflicted to the region of the head, face, mouth, and neck places dentists in a particularly good position to recognize the signs of abuse and take steps to intervene. In this article, the signs and symptoms of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse are discussed, and the proactive steps that dental health professionals can take to record and report these cases are outlined.