Child abuse: perception and management of the Brazilian endodontists

Introduction: In Brazil, dentists have a legal, moral, and ethical obligation to notify competent authorities of suspected cases of maltreatment. Studies conducted in several countries reported the difficulties of dentists in the diagnosis, documentation, and reporting of suspected abuse cases to authorities. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the perception, diagnosis and attitudes of Brazilian endodontists towards child abuse. Material and methods: Data were collected from 56 questionnaires, considering a total of 248 sent by mail (response rate = 23%) to the endodontists (female = 73%). Results: Forty-one percent (n = 23) of the professionals answered that they were able to identify cases of abuse, while 59% (n = 33) answered that they were unable. Considering their graduation years, 93% (n = 52) stated that they had received little information on this issue, and only 5% (n = 3) attended seminars on this subject during the year before the questionnaire’s application. Although 61% (n = 34) of the professionals affirmed that suspicious cases must be reported, only 30% (n = 17) knew to whom. Eighteen percent (n = 10) of the endodontists reported they had already treated suspicious cases, although only 3.5% (n = 2) reported the case to the authorities. The most cited signs of abuse were: body bruises (48%; n = 27), change in behavior (48%; n = 27) and burn marks (12.5%; n = 7). Lesions presented in the face, mouth, and teeth were reported by 27% (n = 15) of the professionals. There were no statistically differences regarding the number of notifications in relation to either the number of years since graduation or the workplace. Conclusion: It was concluded that it is necessary to improve endodontists’ formation concerning to child abuse identification, in order to modify their behavior, therefore, increasing the number of suspicious cases’ notifications.