| Summary: | Purpose: Traumatic dental injuries, majority of which occur at school and primary care given by teacher, should managed as soon as possible. The knowledge and attitudes of teachers is critical for the best prognosis of traumatized teeth. The purpose of this study was to evaluate knowledge and attitudes among elementary public and private school teachers in dental trauma management.
Materials and Methods: A modified three-part questionnaire comprised of questions regarding demographic data, attitude and knowledge about dental trauma was distributed to 328 teachers (public schools:164/private schools:164). The results of the questionnaire were expressed as frequency distributions. Statistical analysis was performed by version 20.0 of the SPSS statistics software.
Results: The average correct knowledge score was 4.96 out of 10. Two individual predictors significantly improved the respondents’ knowledge: being more than 50 years old age (p=0.001) and more than 15 years teaching experience group (p<0.001). While 84.5% of public, 79% of private school teachers found their knowledge poor; and 85% of public, 76% of private school teachers state they're not satisfied with their level of knowledge. Private school teachers had given significantly more correct answers to the questions about dental avulsion management than public school teachers (p=0.01). There was no significant difference between public and private school teachers' knowledge regarding dental trauma management.
Conclusion: The level of knowledge in dental trauma management determined in this study was unsatisfying. Programs on increasing the awareness and motivation of teachers on dental trauma management in both types of schools are recommended.
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