Dental traumatology : official publication of International Association for Dental Traumatology
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Children and adolescents who suffer traumatic injuries often seek emergency treatment at a Children's Hospital. Complex injuries to permanent teeth and their periodontium require immediate repositioning and stabilization. Many of these emergencies are treated by pediatric dental residents at the Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo, Buffalo, New York. ⋯ Most of the displacements were lateral luxations (40%) or extrusions (18%) with only a few intrusions (3%). These injuries most commonly afflicted the maxillary central incisors (54%), followed by the maxillary laterals (18%) and mandibular centrals (17%). The emergency treatment that was provided at the Children's Hospital included replantation and repositioning, and the placement of a semi-rigid or flexible splint.
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School teachers can play an important role in improving the prognosis of avulsed permanent teeth of school children after they are informed about the immediate and proper dental first aid steps to be taken at the time of an accident. The aims of this study were: (i) to assess the knowledge level of emergency measures for tooth avulsion in Kuwaiti intermediate school teachers and (ii) to determine if a short lecture about tooth avulsion and replantation could improve teachers' knowledge on this topic. Eighty-five teachers at two intermediate schools (children 10-14 years old) in Kuwait were interviewed using a questionnaire about their first-aid knowledge with particular focus on the following five categories: General knowledge of teeth and avulsion, replantation of primary and permanent teeth, how to clean an avulsed tooth before replantation, extra-oral time and storage methods and media for an avulsed tooth. ⋯ The knowledge level on the importance of extra-alveolar time before replantation increased from 1% to 74% and knowledge of a suitable storage medium for the avulsed tooth improved from 4% to 86%. Many avulsed permanent teeth in school children can be saved by replantation if school teachers learn what to do when a tooth is avulsed. A lecture followed by discussion proved to be an effective and efficient method of intervention to enhance the knowledge level of teachers so that proper dental first-aid procedures can be achieved.