Dental Graduates Awareness of Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN)

Aims: To assess the knowledge and attitude of dental graduates regarding identification of child abuse and neglect (CAN).

Study Design: This study included Dental graduates from Krishna and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh, India. A questionnaire with 15 questions about Dentists’ attitudes, Dentists’ knowledge on “Child Abuse and Neglect” was made. Two hundred randomly selected dentists who have minimum five years of clinical experience were selected from Indian Dental Association data base and questionnaire was sent to them by post with return postage paid.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pedodontics & Preventive Dentistry, St. Joseph Dental College, Duggirala, Eluru. Between June 2014-November 2014.

Methodology: In an effort to understand the dental graduates’ mindset in an ever changing scenario so that children can be identified and rendered proper care at the right time in the right way. Questionnaires were sent via post to two hundred dental graduates with minimum of five years working experience, working in both public and private sectors. Questionnaire contained three sections with a total of 15 questions. The response formats were tabulated and analyzed statistically.

Results: Hundred and seventy dental graduates responded to the questionnaire.

Conclusion: The dentists who responded demonstrated an overall poor understanding about the problem of Child Abuse and Neglect, despite a very high level of interest showed by them for further information about their responsibilities.