Emergency management of traumatic dental injuries

Abstract

Backgroud: Traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) have become one of the most prevalent dental public health issues around the globe. To minimize post-traumatic complications, proper immediate onsite management of traumatized teeth is crucial. Objectives: To collect data on the knowledge level of the general public in Hong Kong regarding dental trauma via a self-administered online questionnaire; and to compare knowledge level concerning dental trauma among people with different socio-demographic background. Methods: A self-administered online questionnaire was released via the Facebook Page of HKU Faculty of Dentistry. It contained questions about respondents’ socio-demographic data, and their knowledge on the immediate management and possible consequences of TDI. A knowledge score and the correct answers of each question were shown to the participants upon submission of the questionnaires. Results: Altogether, 207 responses were processed in data analysis. The mean knowledge score was 11.7 out of 20. It was found that the knowledge score of people in the age group of ‘21 - 30’ was significantly higher than that of the age group of ‘20 or below’ (p = 0.017). Also, the score of people with ‘secondary school or below’ education was significantly lower than that of ‘tertiary school’ and ‘Bachelor or above’ (p = 0.002). Moreover, the score of people working or studying in a dentally related field was significantly higher than those in a non-dentally related field (p < 0.001). On the contrary, ‘gender’ (p-value = 0.461) and ‘previous dental trauma experience’ (p-value = 0.877) did not have significant association with the scores. Multiple factor ANOVA confirmed that age and working/studying in a dental related field were associated with the knowledge score. Conclusion and recommendation: Our Community Health Project concluded that the general public in Hong Kong had inadequate knowledge and awareness of the emergency management of TDIs. It is recommended that the Hong Kong government, various dental associations, schools and dental professionals pay efforts on the promotion of the relevant knowledge via various means including educational campaigns, talks and videos on television or online platforms.