Knowledge, attitude, and practices of pe diatricians about children’s oral health

BACKGROUND AND AIM:Many pediatric oral diseases are preventable if physicians recognize and encourage preventivecare and refer patients to dentists whenever necessary. Parents usually visit pediatricians for routine care during the firstfew years of a child’s life. Therefore, pediatricians have can assist dental professionals by educating parents to maintaintheir children's oral health.The main objective of this study was to determine knowledge, attitude, and practices ofpediatricians about the oral disease prevention.METHODS:A piloted questionnaire was completed by volunteer pediatricians and pediatric residents in Kerman, Iran. Itcomprised a series of questions including sociodemographic and practice characteristics, knowledge about the riskfactors for oral diseases, attitude toward oral disease prevention, practicing preventive care for oral diseases, andinformation about oral diseases.RESULTS:Overall, 60 subjects participated in the study. Less thanhalf of the respondents knewall the main risk factorsof dental caries, gingivitis, and malocclusion. There was also a positive attitude that caries can be prevented (100%).Less than 10% of the participants prescribeddietary fluoride supplements for their patients.CONCLUSIONS:Although we found inadequate knowledge about oral and dental diseases among pediatricians, themajority of our subjects believed that they had animportant responsibility in preventing oral diseases