Emergency management of avulsion injuries: from home to clinic: A multicentre cross-sectional survey among medical doctors and general public

The objective of this multi-centre study was to analyse the knowledge of parents as compared to medical-doctors regarding avulsion-injuries. A validated and piloted questionnaire was circulated among two equal groups (130 participants each) of medical-doctors and the general public. Data was analysed using SPSS version 19. A total of 131 (89%) participants had a university degree and 185 (71%) had a full time employment. One hundred and eighty-seven (72%) participants reported having no previous information regarding avulsion injuries, 195 (75%) considered their level of knowledge inadequate, and 63 (24%) had a previous history of dental trauma. A statistically significant number had information regarding avulsed permanent-teeth replantation (p=0.02) but not deciduous teeth (p=0.26), whereas only 39 (15%) were aware of the right medium for tooth storage. Having seen or sustained an avulsion-injury and a higher qualification were statistically related to correct responses for some questions. A total of 106 (41%) of the participants wanted to be educated through written-material. In conclusion, the first aid knowledge regarding tooth avulsion injuries in our population, irrespective of their level of academic education, is poor and needs supervised training.

Automated summary

The objective of this study was to compare the knowledge of parents and medical-doctors regarding avulsion injuries, and found that our population has poor first aid knowledge regarding tooth avulsion injuries, irrespective of their level of academic education.