Paediatricians' knowledge, attitude and practice towards children's oral health in North Cyprus

Abstract

The frequent one-to-one contact offers an ideal opportunity for paediatricians to perform oral health risk assessment and educate families on preventive oral health care at early stages. The aim of this research is to assess paediatricians' knowledge, attitude and practice regarding children's oral health. A cross-sectional survey was sent to all paediatricians currently practicing in the North Cyprus. Data was analysed using statistical package for social sciences for descriptive and univariate analysis. Response rate was 92%. Almost all of the paediatricians stated that oral health advice should be included in their routine health supervision. However, many of them reported not feeling confident enough to take active role in preventive oral health care. Less than quarter of the total paediatricians reported that they had received oral health education previously. Previous oral health education/training was associated with improved oral health knowledge, confidence in entering oral health discussions with caregivers and identifying oral health pathologies. The results of our study support the need for paediatricians to receive further oral health training/education.