What do polish parents know about dental trauma and its management in children's treatment? A questionnaire study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the knowledge of Polish parents concerning traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) and their management in children and to assess the influence of TDI experience on parents' knowledge.

METHODS: A questionnaire study conducted from May 2014 to February 2015 involved 741 randomly selected individual parents of children aged 1-17 receiving treatment at the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at the Medical University of Warsaw. The questionnaire consisted of 28 questions concerning TDI management.

RESULTS: The study included 600 questionnaires subjected to statistical analysis using a χ2 independence test and Spearman's rank correlation (p < .05). Results show that 68% of parents have never received information about TDI management. As many as 80.5% were unaware of the possibility of immediate replantation of an avulsed tooth; over 60% would not be capable of choosing a suitable transport medium for such a tooth. Over 12% of TDI-experienced parents were unaware of a suitable transport medium for an avulsed tooth. Three times as many inexperienced parents as parents with TDI experience would place an avulsed tooth in saline solution. The independence test presented a strong correlation between parents' education and their knowledge about TDI management. As many as 80% of parents assessed their knowledge about TDI as inadequate.

CONCLUSIONS: It appears necessary to introduce programmes for parents to raise their level of awareness concerning this topic.