Elementary Schoolteachers' Knowledge and Decision-making Regarding Dental Trauma.

Purpose: To evaluate elementary schoolteachers' knowledge and decision making regarding dental trauma in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Materials And Methods: A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among elementary schoolteachers (n=442). Questions encompassed sociodemographic characteristics and decision making regarding dental trauma. Data on the appropriate answer regarding what to do with a traumatised or avulsed tooth were analysed with multiple logistic regressions, adjusting for age, gender, work experience and previous training.

Results: The study population consisted largely of women (90%), was 40 to 49 years old (44.3%) and had more than 15 years of work experience (56.6%). Women (OR=2.68/p=0.041), teachers under 30 years old (OR=4.95/p=0.041), those with more than 15 years of work experience (OR=8.95/p<0.001) or those who had already received previous dental trauma instructions (OR=1.95/ p=0.119) were more likely to choose the appropriate answer for an avulsion situation. Teachers under 30 years old (OR=2.88/ p=0.279), those with more than 15 years of work experience (OR=4.55/p=0.001) or those who had received previous training (OR=3.39/p=0.009) presented higher probabilites of choosing the appropriate answer for a crown fracture event.

Conclusion: Greater work experience or previous instructions on how to approach dental trauma in the school environment were found to be major factors in schoolteachers' decision making regarding dental trauma.