New Zealand dental therapists’ beliefs regarding child maltreatment

Abstract

Objective: To investigate dental therapists' perceptions of the problem of child maltreatment and their roles in child protection, their experience/recollections of past training, and how frequently they suspect (and report) abuse or neglect.Methods: Ethical approval was obtained and a postal survey was conducted of all 643 New Zealand (NZ) dental therapists with current annual practising certificates and known addresses. Data were double-entered for accuracy and analysed in SPSS version 20.0. Results:The participation rate was 49.8% (N=320 of 643). Most dental therapists (77.1%) believed rates of death due to child abuse were greater in NZ than other countries. More than 81% desired more continuing professional education courses. During the past year, 18.1% had suspected physical abuse, 30.9% had suspected neglect and 53.1% had suspected dental neglect in their patients. About half of all suspected cases were never reported. The major barrier was a fear of mistakenly reporting a non-abuse case. Conclusions and implications:Most NZ dental therapists believe they have an important role in child protection, yet their suspicions are frequently unreported. Dental therapists may benefit from appropriate support and clear advice from their employers when dealing with suspected cases of maltreatment.

Dental Neglect, one type of child abuse – Narrative review

“…existence and extension of dental plaque and gingival bleeding. 6,17,19 These factors, associated with privation or delay in seeking dental treatment for significant trauma, failure to complete recommended treatment, and allowing the child's oral health to deteriorate, are highlighted in a systematic review as defining recognizable characteristics of dental neglect. 9…”

“…Scientifically, the strong influence that parents have in their children's oral health is well evidenced. 8 They are responsible, not only for making the child attend dentist appointments, but also for teaching and maintaining ■ RESULTS Table 1 summarizes the selection procedure: among the 25 articles analyzed, 1,5,7-29 five were selected, four of which had a descriptive observational design 17,19,21,27 and one had a case-control design; 13 all were focused on the theme of dental neglect in children. Three articles included children and their educators, 27,21,13 one included dentists 19 and one included public health nurses.…”

“…8 They are responsible, not only for making the child attend dentist appointments, but also for teaching and maintaining ■ RESULTS Table 1 summarizes the selection procedure: among the 25 articles analyzed, 1,5,7-29 five were selected, four of which had a descriptive observational design 17,19,21,27 and one had a case-control design; 13 all were focused on the theme of dental neglect in children. Three articles included children and their educators, 27,21,13 one included dentists 19 and one included public health nurses. 17 In three articles, a questionnaire was used as a method of collecting data; 17,19 one used a clinical evaluation of children's the oral cavity 13 and two combined these two methods of data collection.…”

“…Three articles included children and their educators, 27,21,13 one included dentists 19 and one included public health nurses. 17 In three articles, a questionnaire was used as a method of collecting data; 17,19 one used a clinical evaluation of children's the oral cavity 13 and two combined these two methods of data collection. 21,27 It is difficult to enumerate the exact indicators of dental neglect, however, the articles that were selected 13,17,19,21,27 reveal signs that raise a suspicion of this condition.…”

Maltrato Infantil: Conocimiento y Actitud del Cirujano Dentista. Marco Legal y Revisión de la Literatura

“…En cuanto a la necesidad de capacitación al respecto, todos los estudios concuerdan en el hecho de que se necesita formar más profundamente al respecto, tanto en la detección de los signos y síntomas de alerta, en como afrontar la situación y cuales son los protocolos o acciones a seguir en cuanto a reporte y derivación (Fierro et al;Laud et al;Harris et al;Asfura;Tilvawala et al, 2014;Deshpande et al, 2015;Al-Amad et al;Mogaddam et al, 2016;Brattabø et al, 2016Brattabø et al, , 2018Olatosi et al, 2018).…”