Dental Trauma Knowledge in Public Dental Services: Need for Updating

Objectives: General dentists employed in the Public Dental Services (PDS) in Norway, are the primary care providers for traumatic dental injuries (TDI). This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of general dentists regarding the management of TDI in the PDS in Western Norway.
Methods: An electronic questionnaire was distributed to all general dentists of Vestland County, Norway (N=165). The socio-demographic and professional profiles of respondents were registered and clinical case scenarios on emergency treatment and further follow-ups of TDI were used to calculate a “Dental Trauma Knowledge Score (DTKS; range: 0-14). Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and univariate logistic regression analysis were performed for statistical analysis.
Results: The final study group consisted of 76 dentists. The median Dental Trauma Knowledge score (DTKS) was 9 (IQR: 7,75-11). No significant differences in total DTKS could be seen regarding gender, age, and work experience. However, dentists aged 30-39 years and 40-49 years had significantly lower DTKS compared with younger dentists (< 30 years) regarding the emergency treatment of complicated crown fractures (P< 0.01) and complications after tooth avulsion (P< 0.01). Furthermore, female dentists had significantly lower DTKS scores compared with male dentists on emergency treatment of pulp exposure in mature and immature teeth (P< 0.001 and P< 0.01, respectively).
Conclusions: Overall, a good level of knowledge on TDI management was observed among dentists in PDS of Vestland County, Norway. It seems that younger dentists that recently graduated had a more up-to-date knowledge on TDI management of pulp exposures. There seem to be knowledge gaps when it comes to complicated crown fractures and avulsion. An update in TDI knowledge in PDS is indicated.