Recognising Child Abuse and Neglect in the Dental Practice: An Overview for Malaysian Practitioners

Abstract

Dental practitioners may face child abuse and neglect in their daily practise. However, such instances usually go unreported due to a lack of appropriate information. Furthermore, practitioners are hesitant to disclose instances for a variety of reasons, creating a vicious circle that confines the victim and has major long-term consequences. This review will emphasise crucial strategies for recognising child abuse in dental settings, how to deal with it, and how dentists can better prepare themselves to deal with such cases if they occur. In addition, this research makes some recommendations for how dental practitioners in general should better prepare for such unforeseen scenarios.