Knowledge, Awareness and Attitude towards Emergency Management of Dental Trauma among the Parents of Kolkata-An Institutional Study

Global status of knowledge of parents for emergency management of traumatic dental injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

RESEARCH PROTOCOL

The protocol was developed as per the recommendations of the Cochrane-handbook and PRISMA and was registered in PROSPERO.

LITERATURE SEARCH

Search was performed by using MeSH-Terms and keywords in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Sciences, Lilacs, and Cochrane databases and gray literature sources 15th July 2022. There were no limits regarding the year of publication and language. Hand-searching of included articles was also performed. Titles and abstracts and later full texts were screened as per strict inclusion and exclusion criteria.

DATA EXTRACTION

Self-designed pilot-tested form was used.

QUALITY APPRAISAL

Risk of bias was analyzed through Joanna-Brigg's-Institute's-critical appraisal checklist. The evidence analysis was done by using the GRADE approach.

DATA ANALYSIS

Qualitative synthesis was performed for describing the study characteristics, details of sampling, and results of various questionnaires. It was discussed by the expert group and presented using KAP heat map. Meta-analysis was done by using Random Effects Model.

RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION

The risk of bias was found to be low in seven and moderate in one study. It was observed that >50% of parents knew about the urgency to seek professional advice after TDI. Only <50% of parents were confident of their ability to identify the injured tooth, clean the soiled avulsed tooth, and perform the replantation. Appropriate responses regarding immediate action after tooth avulsion were given by 54.5% (95% CI: 50.2-58.8, p = 0.042) of parents. The knowledge of the parents regarding the emergency management of TDI was found to be inadequate. The majority of them were interested in obtaining information about dental trauma first aid.

Knowledge, awareness, and attitude among the employees in emergency ambulance services towards traumatic dental injuries

INTRODUCTION

Traumatic dental injuries are the most frequently encountered dental emergencies. Psychologically a missing tooth in the front tooth region can be a cause of social embarassment for the child and may elevate the anxiety level in the parents. The prognosis of any road traffic accident (RTA) mainly depends on the employees in emergency ambulance services to prompt correct emergency measures.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and the awareness level of the employees in emergency ambulance services regarding the management of dental trauma in patients who have sustained RTAs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In total, 100 healthcare workers in 108 emergency ambulance services were randomly evaluated using a self-structured questionnaire in and around Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu.

RESULTS

The overall knowledge of the personnel in 108 emergency ambulance services regarding management of traumatic injuries to the teeth was not satisfactory. Approximately, 86% of employees reported that no dental first aid is given for the patient who has sustained RTA.

CONCLUSION

Dental trauma awareness program and first aid training will help in rebuilding the awareness and knowledge regarding the importance of management in a dental emergency.