Knowledge of dental trauma among mothers in Mangalore.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge of Mangalore mothers regarding dental trauma.

Methods: A questionnaire inquiring about mother's knowledge on dental trauma was distributed to 500 working and non-working mothers via their children attending two primary schools in the Mangalore city.

Results: Around 68.5% of the mothers were aware of the management of dental trauma. Of the working mothers, 72% were aware of the management of dental trauma while 65% of the non-working mothers were aware. When asked about saving the avulsed tooth, 36% of mothers said that the avulsed tooth can be saved. Regarding mouth guards, 54.5% of the mothers said that they aware of the use of mouth guards to prevent traumatic injuries to the teeth. Of the working mothers 72% knew that mouth guards are useful in the prevention of dental trauma while 37% of the non-working mothers have this knowledge; 68% of the mothers would take the child to the dentist following tooth injury whereas 17% of the mothers would use an emergency kit. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis indicated a significant difference between the responses of working and the non-working mothers with regard to mouth guard knowledge and recommendation (P-value 0.001).

Conclusion: Most of the mothers were graduates and were aware of the emergency management of dental trauma. The working mothers had better knowledge and awareness regarding mouth guards (72%) when compared with non-working mothers (37%).