Emergency Management of Avulsed Permanent Incisors: Knowledge and Attitude of Primary School Teachers and Parents in Casablanca

Abstract

Objective: Tooth avulsion is a real emergency in pediatric traumatology. The prognosis depends highly on the attitude adopted (notably by parents and teachers) at the time of the accident. Immediate reimplantation being the best treatment. The aim of this survey was to assess the knowledge of parents and primary school teachers regarding the management of permanent incisor avulsion, in the Wilaya of Grand Casablanca.Materials and Methods: 80 public and private schools were randomly selected among of the 8 delegations of Grand Casablanca, then, a self-administered questionnaire of 10 items was submitted to both teachers and parents. The collected data was analyzed using Epi info 6.0 software.Results: Among 640 teachers and 640 parents who took part in the survey, most were females (87.8% of teachers and 75% of parents). 8.3% of parents and 8.1% of teachers have reported having a previous experience with dental avulsion. 9.7% of parents and 3.9% of teachers will immediately replant the avulsed tooth, 68.8% of teachers and 48% of parents will see a dentist carrying the avulsed tooth. 11.7% of the parents and 19% of the teachers chose milk as a storage medium, the other part opted for a dry storage. There was a significant link between the parents' education level and the attitude adopted to manage permanent incisor avulsion (p<0.05). As to teachers, years of teaching did not influence decision making. Conclusion:The state of knowledge of participant in this survey presents numerous shortcomings that must be corrected in order to improve the prognosis of permanent incisor avulsion among children in our country.