Spanish Paediatricians’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Regarding Oral Health of Children under 6 Years of Age: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is a prevalent chronic pathology, and it has a negative impact on the oral and general health of the child patient. Aim: To evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Spanish paediatricians regarding early childhood caries according to the professional’s years of experience. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire was conducted by Spanish paediatricians via WhatsApp and e-mails from January to April 2021. Data were analysed using Chi-squared test, Fisher’s exact test and Cramer’s V test. Results: There were a total of 359 participants. Most respondents were women (81.3%) with up to 10 years of professional experience (31.2%) in primary health care and public health. In most cases, participants had an excellent knowledge of primary dentition (90.8%), but they ignored (56%) when the first visit to the dentist should occur. Regarding the aetiological factors of caries, oral hygiene and prevention, a lower rate of knowledge was observed. The majority of participants (80.8%) were not able to identify white spot lesions and enamel defects (76%). They considered that their knowledge in oral health was deficient, highlighting the need to increase their training. Less experienced paediatricians were found to have higher success rates. Conclusions: The level of knowledge and attitudes regarding early childhood caries of the evaluated paediatricians should be improved. Paediatricians had difficulties in identifying early caries lesions and enamel defects. Nevertheless, a higher level of knowledge and positive attitudes towards dental caries has been detected among paediatricians with fewer years of professional experience.

Knowledge, perceptions, and behavior regarding children’s oral health among Syrian pediatricians: a cross-sectional study

“…Concerning enamel defect lesions diagnosis, pediatricians were able to identify them in molars rather than incisors. This finding is in agreement with the one reported in Spain [ 12 ]. However, enamel defect diagnosis is challenging even for dentists [ 27 ].…”

“…Most of the pediatricians (85.15%) are able to identify the optimal time for the first primary tooth eruption, and the total number of primary teeth as well (60.26%). This result is in accordance with the finding reported in Spain [ 12 ]. AAPD recommends the first dental visit by the first birthday [ 15 ].…”

“…The early detection of white spot lesions or “nonexistence cavitations” is difficult yet important before they progress into irreversible cavities [ 23 ]. A similar result was reported in Spain, the UK, Brazil, and Trinidad and Tobago [ 12 , 24 – 26 ]. However, more than half of them (66.81%) were able to identify the irreversible cavities.…”

“…Participation was voluntary and anonymous. An online Arabic questionnaire was designed using Google Forms software and adapted from previously validated questionnaires [ 12 – 14 ]. To determine its reliability, a Cronbach’s alpha test was performed after distributing it to a group of 20 participants in an interval of 2 weeks and comparing their answers for each question.…”

“…The fifth section consisted of three questions related to participants’ attitude toward receiving training during their residency. The last section included four illustrations related to clinical cases regarding dental caries and enamel defects used in a similar questionnaire [ 12 ].…”