The Pediatricians' Role in the Oral Health of Children

Objectives: To determine the pediatricians’ knowledge, behaviour, attitude and clinical experience regarding oral health of children. Methods: Pediatricians practising in 9 cities, located in 5 different regions of Turkey were asked to respond a 2 page survey including 28 questions in 5 different categories. A total sum of 180 surveys were responded by the participants. A multiple correlation analysis was applied on the behaviour, knowledge, clinical experience and attitude question categories. Results: 82.4% of the pediatricians reported that they were not given any instruction in subjects regarding oral health of children and 50.3% reported that they wished to be given knowledge. 72.1% of the respondents strongly agreed to the assessment of dental problems of children during physical examination and 38% reported that they frequently examined children’s teeth for dental problems. 63.7% strongly agreed to counseling on the prevention of dental problems and 20.7% frequently counseled the family on going to the dentist. 24.6% of the respondents reported that they assessed children’s need for fluoride supplementation and 29.1% knew the optimum fluoride level necessary for caries prevention. 44.7% knew that the bacteria causing caries can be transmitted from mother to the infant and 7.3% reported that they inquired about mother’s dental health. A correlation was found between behaviour of the pediatricians and their knowledge, clinical experience and attitude regarding oral health (r= 0.536). Also a correlation was found between the knowledge and behaviour of the pediatricians (r= 0.419). Conclusions: It was determined that the relations between the paedodontists and the pediatricians should be improved in order to achieve a good preventive oral health for children. Also, pediatricians require current information and guidelines on preventive dental care which can be instructed by paedodontists.