Evaluation of Elementary School Teachers' Knowledge and Attitudes about Immediate Emergency Management of Traumatic Dental Injuries

Purpose: To investigate teachers' knowledge and attitudes about emergency management of traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) in children. Materials and Methods: A total of 764 teachers from 13 elementary schools were included in the study. Data were collected using a self-reporting questionnaire in which teachers were asked about demographic information, previous experience with dental trauma, first-aid training, knowledge of emergency management and how they would respond to two hypothetical TDI cases. Results: Of the 764 participants, 550 (71.4%) returned the questionnaire; of these, 309 (56.2%) were female and 241 (43.8%) were male. While 297 teachers reported having had first-aid training, only 13 (4.4%) of them reported emergency management of TDIs being covered in this training. Less than half of respondents (47.5%, n = 261) correctly answered the question on the appropriate response to a TDI involving a fractured tooth and only one-quarter of respondents (25.4%, n=140) correctly answered the question on the appropriate response to a TDI involving an avulsed tooth. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated teachers' low level of knowledge about the emergency treatment of TDIs in schoolchildren, suggesting that educational programmes are needed to improve proper emergency management of TDIs by teachers. Keywords: children, dental trauma, emergency, knowledge, teacher