Assessment of the Knowledge of Availability of Primary Dental Trauma Care and Its Awareness among Emergency Medical Specialists in the City of Chennai.

Background:Dental trauma (traumatic dental injury) is an impact injury to the teeth and/or other hard and soft tissues within and around the mouth and oral cavity. Traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) are the most common injuries among the entire worldwide population. From a simple fall to sports injuries and road traffic accidents, children, adolescents, and adults risk experiencing TDIs. These Emergency dental situations are first brought to the notice of physicians, who do the initial line of management. Objectives:The study aims to assess the extent of Emergency medical specialist knowledge regarding the diagnosis and primary management of traumatic dental injuries. Methods:A questionnaire of 15 both open-ended and close-ended questions was designed. After validation and ethical clearance, the questionnaire study was conducted among 98 emergency medical specialists throughout the city of Chennai. The data collected were statistically analyzed. Results:In this study, it was found that the frequency of hospitals having dental surgeons available was 52.0%, and the availability of proper dental imaging facilities was only 58.2%. The frequency of respondents knowing avulsion was 30.6. Conclusions:Through this study, it has been found that the knowledge and awareness regarding managing primary dental traumatic injuries among emergency medical specialists in the city of Chennai are low, but the facilities in hospitals to manage traumatic dental injuries were satisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]