Knowledge, attitudes and practices of pediatricians about effects of pediatric drugs on oral health: A survey study

Abstract

Aim: Pediatricians may be able to play an important and effective role in providing forward guidance on children's oral health. When they make the right recommendations, the erosive, cariogenic and staining effects of medications are predicted to reduce. The objective of this research is to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of pediatricians concerning the effects of medication use on oral health. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive survey study was conducted on pediatricians in Istanbul, Turkey. Data were collected by distributing a questionnaire to pediatricians working in hospitals and private clinics. Differences between the proportions of categories were assessed using the chi-square tests. For the differences between two ordinal variables, rank sums nonparametric test Mann-Whitney U test was used for quantitative analysis. Results: 54.3% of the responders informed patients about oral health after prescribing drugs. Only 27% of the pediatricians felt knowledgeable about informing parents about oral care after drug use. Only 17.7% of them agreed with the statement that their training about oral health during medical school/pediatrics is adequate. Conclusion: There is a need to organize the curriculum relating to oral health in pediatrics education and to increase the level of knowledge of pediatricians through educational programmes.