A questionnaire-based survey for the evaluation of the knowledge level of primary school teachers on first-aid management of traumatic dental injuries in Athens, Greece

Knowledge and attitude of traumatic dental injuries in Mongolian schoolteachers

BACKGROUND

Traumatic dental injury (TDI) is a growing public health concern worldwide, and children and adolescents are commonly affected. Because TDI often occurs at school, the response of teachers to these injuries is crucial. However, teachers in various countries have been shown to lack knowledge of effective TDI first-aid response and need an intervention to improve their knowledge. The aim of the study presented here was to ascertain and analyze teachers' knowledge of and attitude about TDI in Mongolia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study of full-time teachers in Mongolia was performed using an online questionnaire (compiled from relevant studies) from September 2022 to December 2022. The questionnaire consists of 47 items and among them 14 were used to assess the teacher's knowledge, and 5 were for attitude towards TDI. The maximum possible score was 14 points and grouped as follows good, moderate, and poor. T-test, ANOVA test (post-hoc) and linear regression analysis were performed.

RESULTS

The online survey provided quantitative data from 2821 participants: 28% were elementary school teachers, 29% middle school teachers, and 42% high school teachers. Their mean age was 36.7 ± 9 years, and 2433 (86%) were female. The mean score of the TDI knowledge of the teachers was 5.3 ± 2.1 out of 14. The ANOVA test showed that older (p < 0.01) and more experienced teachers (p < 0.01) had higher scores. Teachers in the eastern (5.46 ± 2.2) and southern (5.49 ± 2.2) provinces had higher mean scores than in the other provinces (p < 0.02). Teachers majored in natural sciences (5.4 ± 2.2) had a higher score than those in the social sciences (5.2 ± 2.1) and difference were significant (p < 0.02). The multiple regression model statistically significantly predicted a one-year increase in experience, the TDI score increased 0.034 (95% CI 0.026, 0.043) unit.

CONCLUSIONS

The knowledge regarding TDI and effective first-aid response to such injury is low in teachers in Mongolia. However, the teachers' attitude about TDI was positive and they wanted to learn and improve their knowledge. Therefore, further education and training programs are advised.

Validation of an educational comic book to guide conducts in situations of dental trauma

BACKGROUND/AIM

Childhood dental trauma poses a prevalent concern, and the limited knowledge of lay caregivers toward the needed immediate actions can adversely affect a child's well-being. This study aimed to create and validate an educational comic book for lay individuals, designed to guide immediate actions in dental trauma cases, and assess its effects toward enhancing reader knowledge.

METHODOLOGY

The four-stage study involved: (1) Literature review and script development; (2) Version 1 of the comic book creation (including illustrations, layout, and design) and Flesch Readability Index (FI) calculation; (3) Version 1 validation by expert judges, assessed by the Content Validity Index (CVI); (4) Version 1 refinement based on the judges' feedback, recalculation of FI, and a pilot test (CVI) involving lay individuals who validated the final material (Version 2). The validation process involved 67 participants, including 13 specialist judges and 54 elementary school teachers.

RESULTS

The CVI for Version 1 was calculated at 0.89 (89%), indicating a favorable level of agreement on the evaluated criteria. The FI was determined as 91.1%, indicating a high level of readability. The FI for Version 2 was 92.1% (indicating a very easy level of comprehension). The CVI calculated for the target audience after the pilot test was 0.99 (99%), denoting a substantial agreement among the participants. In assessing the level of knowledge, a significant increase was observed in the rate of correct answers after the comic book was read by lay individuals (p < 0.05), inasmuch as the percentage rose from 50.5% before to 81.2% after reading it.

CONCLUSION

The educational comic book proved valid in terms of readability, appearance, and content. Furthermore, it had a positive impact on gaining the knowledge needed to take the appropriate actions, thus making it a valuable tool for guiding the lay population in cases of dental trauma.

Development and validation of a questionnaire to assess commonality knowledge of traumatic dental injuries and management of emergencies

BACKGROUND

Dental trauma represents a significant public health problem, causing a burden for both individuals and society. The aim of this study is to systematically develop and validate a questionnaire on 'traumatic dental injuries and management of emergencies' (TIME) for assessing the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) for a commonality.

METHODS

The scale development phases included conceptual framework, systematic development of an item pool, refinement of the item pool by Focus-group discussion (n = 23), validity-testing using Content Validity Index (n = 5), translation and back-translation, Cognitive interviewing (n = 30,45), and reliability testing (n = 40). The conceptual framework was built based on six broad constructs, such as broken teeth, knocked-out (avulsion) teeth, pushed/moved-in and loosened teeth (luxation injuries), soft tissue injuries, follow-up and management, and prevention and protection.

RESULTS

Reviews of existing questionnaires significantly helped to generate an initial pool of 68 items (refined to 51 items). Lawshe's content validity was 0.92. High test-retest reliability was demonstrated (kappa value = 0.98). The questionnaire showed a high level of reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86) with great internal consistency.

CONCLUSION

TIME is the first validated scale for recording knowledge, attitude and practices on traumatic dental injuries and management of emergencies for non-dental professionals. The 51-tem tool will allow dentists to evaluate KAP of commonality. KAP measured across the globe would have a significant impact on planning awareness programs by dentists and dental associations.

Elementary school teachers' knowledge and attitudes toward emergency management of traumatic dental injuries

The consequences of traumatic dental injuries can be even more serious when their emergency management procedures are inadequate. Since traumatic accidents frequently occur at school, it is crucial that teachers be knowledgeable enough to assist an injured child. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of the elementary school teachers of a Brazilian city toward dental trauma in permanent teeth, and its emergency practices. A combination of convenience and snowball sampling methods was used. An online questionnaire was distributed through social media, consisting of three parts: demographic characteristics and professional information; previous experiences and attitudes toward dental trauma; teachers' knowledge of this subject. Descriptive and statistical analyses were carried out. Pearson chi-squared test (p < 0.05) was used. A total of 217 teachers participated in the study. The power of the sample was 95%. Half of the teachers had already witnessed a dental trauma incident involving students, and 70.5% never received any information on the subject. The teachers who were provided previous information were the ones who opted to search for the tooth fragment (p=0.036) in cases of crown fracture, and for the lost tooth (p = 0.025) in cases of avulsion. They were also the ones who chose to wash the tooth in running water (p = 0.018), and look for a dentist in the first 30 or 60 minutes after the trauma (p = 0.026). Most of the teachers assessed did not have adequate knowledge of dental trauma. Having previous information was associated with more assertive practices in trauma management.

Teacher Preparedness for Medical Emergencies in Belgian Classrooms: Studying Objective and Subjective First-Aid Knowledge

About one in seven accidents involving children occurs at school. Roughly 70% of these accidents involve children under the age of 12 years. Thus, primary school teachers may be confronted with accidents where first aid could improve the outcome. Despite the importance of first-aid knowledge among teachers, little is known about this topic. To fill this gap, we conducted case-based survey research on the objective and subjective first-aid knowledge of primary school and kindergarten teachers in Flanders, Belgium. An online survey was distributed to primary school and kindergarten teachers. It included 14 hypothetical first-aid scenarios in a primary school context to assess objective knowledge, along with one item to assess subjective knowledge. A total of 361 primary school and kindergarten teachers completed the questionnaire. The participants achieved an average knowledge score of 66%. Those who had completed a first-aid course had significantly higher scores. Knowledge regarding child CPR was amongst the lowest, with only 40% correct answers. Structural equation modeling showed that only previous first-aid training, recent experience with first aid, and subjective first-aid knowledge were linked to teachers’ objective first-aid knowledge—particularly for basic first aid. This study shows that completing a first-aid course and completing a refresher course can predict objective first-aid knowledge. We therefore recommend that first-aid training and regular refresher courses should be mandatory in teacher training, given that a large share of teachers may need to apply first aid to a pupil at some point during their career.

Effectiveness of an educational cartoon animation on the knowledge of children about traumatic dental injuries

BACKGROUND/AIM

Although children are frequently exposed to traumatic dental injuries (TDIs), their knowledge and attitude regarding the emergency management of TDIs are largely insufficient. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge of children about TDIs utilizing a questionnaire before and after watching a custom animated instructional video.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study was conducted with 332 children aged 8 to 13 years. The children were asked to complete a 3-part questionnaire that included socio-demographic data, past experiences related to TDIs, and knowledge of the emergency management of TDIs. An educational video containing evidence-based information about the management of TDIs was shown to the children. They then completed the questionnaire again immediately after viewing the video and 1 week later. The data were analyzed using Friedman's two-way ANOVA by ranks test, McNemar's test, and the Mann-Whitney U-test.

RESULTS

The children's scores increased significantly following the viewing of the video (p = .0001). Prior to watching the animation, children who had previously received dental trauma education had considerably higher scores than their peers (p = .004). The animation was considered to be beneficial by 96.7% of the children. Prior to watching the animation, 49.1% of the children believed they could help their friends in the event of dental trauma, and after viewing the animation, this rate increased to 86.4%, but decreased to 77.1% after 1 week (p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

After watching the video, the children's scores improved dramatically and their self-confidence in helping their friends in the event of dental trauma increased.

Knowledge of First Aid Measures in Dental Trauma: A Survey of Teachers in the Province of Seville, Spain

The high incidence of childhood dental trauma requires childcare professionals to have basic notions of dental first aid. The aim of this study is to assess the level of knowledge and aptitude (defined as the ability to operate competently in a given activity) of early childhood, primary, and/or secondary education teachers from Seville (Spain) referred to first aid measures in dental trauma. A descriptive study was conducted. The study sample consisted of 442 teachers (334 women and 108 men) coinciding proportionately with the study target population in terms of gender distribution, type of center, and teaching level. A specifically designed questionnaire was used. Most of the participants (88.5%, n = 391) exhibited poor knowledge and aptitude, 11.5% (n = 51) showed a medium level of knowledge and aptitude, and none were categorized as having a high knowledge and aptitude. As a conclusion, teachers in the province of Seville (Spain) showed marked deficiencies in their level of knowledge and aptitude referred to the adoption of first aid measures in dental trauma among their pupils.

School teachers' knowledge and experience about emergency management of traumatic dental injuries: A questionnaire-based online cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND/AIM

Dental trauma is one of the critical oral health problems in childhood and adolescence that can affect an individual's quality of life. Teachers may witness a dental injury on many occasions, and they are likely to be involved at the site of an accident. Hence, they should be capable of managing prompt and correct emergency treatment at the accident site. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the level of knowledge and experience of Croatian elementary and high school teachers concerning dental trauma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A questionnaire-based cross-sectional online survey was conducted to determine knowledge and experience about traumatic dental injuries among 803 full-time working elementary and high school teachers. The inclusion criteria were full-time employment at the time of data collection with at least 1 year of teaching experience. Retirement (teachers aged ≥65 years) and unwillingness to participate in the survey were the exclusion criteria. The Student t test or one-way ANOVA, with Tukey's post hoc was used to evaluate the obtained data. The level of significance was set at p ≤ .05.

RESULTS

The overall mean level of teachers' knowledge regarding emergency management of dental trauma was 6.6 ± 2.5 points, out of a maximum possible score of 14. There were no significant differences in knowledge among teachers from lower elementary, upper elementary, and high school education (6.9 ± 2.5, 6.5 ± 2.4 vs 6.4 ± 2.6 points, respectively; p = .140). Teachers who had personally experienced dental trauma showed better knowledge (7.2 ± 2.6 vs 6.4 ± 2.5 points; p ≤ .001).

CONCLUSION

The knowledge of emergency management of dental trauma among elementary and high school teachers in Croatia is low. Since most of the participants expressed willingness for future education regarding this subject, educational programs are recommended.

Traumatic Dental Injuries, Treatment, and Complications in Children and Adolescents: A Register-Based Study

Objective  Traumatic dental injury (TDI) is a common dental concern among children worldwide. We performed a retrospective patient register study among children under 18 years to investigate TDIs with respect to causes, treatment, and complications.

Materials and Methods  We collected information on TDIs from the original patient records of 407 child patients visiting dental clinic of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania. We analyzed all child patients’ ( n = 407) background, cause, type of TDI, treatment, complications, and time elapsed from injury to visit to the dentist.

Statistical Analysis  The χ² -test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests served in the statistical analyses.

Results  A total of 579 TDI cases occurred during 2010 to 2016. Lateral luxation (19.8%) and intrusion (14.8%) occurred more often in the primary than the permanent dentition ( p < 0.05). The most common cause of TDI was falling (56%). Avulsion occurred in approximately 10% of cases. Follow-up (44.5%) and tooth extraction (48.3%) were the most frequent treatments in the primary and splinting (25.3%) in the permanent teeth. Pulp necrosis was the most frequent complication in primary (92%) and permanent (54%) dentition. About 1% of the patients obtained dental care during the first hour after injury.

Conclusion  The most frequent TDIs included lateral luxation in primary teeth and enamel-dentine fractures in permanent teeth. We observed a delay in patients obtaining emergency dental care.

An educational intervention for improving knowledge of Syrian school children about avulsion using the "save your tooth" poster

BACKGROUND

The prognosis of replantation of an avulsed tooth is affected by the first aid management in the first 15 min after traumatic incident. Knowledge of the optimal management is crucial to successful replantation. The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of educational intervention using the Arabic version of the "save your tooth" poster designed by the International Association of Dental Traumatology IADT, in improving the knowledge of schoolchildren about first aid management of avulsion of permanent teeth.

METHODS

An interventional educational study was undertaken. A total of 550 schoolchildren aged 9-12 years participated in this study. Thirteen public primary schools in Damascus city were selected. A questionnaire was developed to measure the knowledge of schoolchildren about avulsion of permanent teeth. The translated IADT education poster about avulsion management was adopted.The content of this poster was explained to the children. Two months later, the subjects were re-evaluated using the same questionnaire. Paired sample t-test was used to test the differences existed between the two assessments.

RESULT

A total of 537 schoolchildren completed the questionnaires in which (n = 305) 57% were females and (n = 232) 43% were males. The findings demonstrated significant improvement in the participants' responses after interventional education (P < 0.05). The mean score of knowledge increased significantly from 3.71 at the baseline to 4.03 after the intervention (P < 0.003).

CONCLUSION

The findings of the present study showed that the level of knowledge of Syrian schoolchildren regarding first-aid management of avulsion of permanent teeth was limited at the baseline. The follow-up results showed that the educational intervention based on the "save your tooth" poster was significantly effective in improving the knowledge of schoolchildren. Further interventions to educate all Syrian schoolchildren about avulsion could be of great value to prevent its negative aesthetic, functional, psychological, economic impacts.

Knowledge and Attitudes about Dental Trauma Among the Students of the University of Split

Objectives

Dental trauma among children is a common problem, and everyone who works with them needs to possess appropriate knowledge and skills to provide proper care at the site of the accident. The aim was to evaluate the knowledge of emergency management of dental trauma among students who should be capable of managing such injuries in their future career.

Materials and Methods

A cross-sectional survey regarding dental trauma emergency management was conducted on 679 students from five different studies using a questionnaire. The obtained data were analyzed by the Student t-test or one - way ANOVAusing the Tukey's post-hoc test and multiple linear regression analysis (p<0.05).

Results

The total knowledge score regarding the emergency management of dental trauma among examined student was 4.32±2.25 (max 10). The positive association of the knowledge score was observed with the age of student (β=0.722, p≤0.001). A similar relation was observed depending on whether they received dental injuries training during their academic education (β=2.365, p≤0.001), as well as students’ assessment of the importance of knowledge regarding dental trauma emergency management (β=0.433, p≤0.001).

Conclusions

It can be concluded that the surveyed students have limited knowledge regarding dental injuries and their emergency management procedures. The obtained data emphasized the importance of additional education of all professions that may encounter dental trauma injuries to improve the outcomes of dental trauma treatment.

Clinical-based Scenario Questionnaire About Dentists’ Awareness of Tooth Avulsion Management in Riyadh City

Aim:

To evaluate the knowledge of general dentists in Riyadh city regarding tooth avulsion using a questionnaire that contained case-based questions.

Materials and Methods:

Case-based questionnaires were distributed amongst 128 dentists. The questionnaire contained 5 items on demographic data and 10 items on clinical cases. Participants selected the most appropriate answer on the basis of the American were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 22, IBM Corp., New York).

Results:

The survey was completed with 74 percent males and 26 percent females. Most participants had freshly graduated and had not experienced any accident involving tooth avulsion. The overall mean score was 5.13 (standard deviation = 1.73). There were no significant differences in scores among the demographic categories.

Conclusion:

Freshly graduated dentists in Riyadh city demonstrated a moderate level of knowledge on management of avulsed teeth. Close adherence to AAE guidelines for traumatic dental injuries could result in further improvement.