Child abuse and neglect: implications for the dental profession.

Dentists, as a group, have participated in the recognition and reporting of child maltreatment to a lesser degree than other health professionals, being either unaware of their legal responsibility to report or, when abuse or neglect is suspected, reluctant to do so.     

Child abuse and neglect: the dental assistant's role in prevention

Child abuse and neglect are growing at ever increasing rates in the U.S. It is not only within the purview of dental practice to identify and report suspected cases, it is also required by state law. An appropriate child abuse and neglect protocol in your dental practice is the best defense children may have to prevent these problems. Talk about abuse and neglect at your staff meetings. Be aware of the warning signs, know what to consider when you see an injury, and know how to make a report. When you see a child that may be a victim, remember that everyone else in the dental office has seen the same child and may have useful information. Talk privately among yourselves about what you see and hear. Encourage your dentist to fulfill his or her legal obligation to report suspected cases, but understand that anyone can make a report, whether specified as a mandated reporter or not. Remember that breaking the cycle of child abuse and neglect not only can make your patient happier and healthier, it may save a child's life.     

Child abuse and dental neglect: the dental team's role in identification and prevention

Abstract:  Health, education and social services are placing increasing emphasis on preventing abuse and neglect by early intervention to support families where children and young people may be at risk. Dental hygienist and dental assistants, like all other health professionals, can have a part in recognizing and preventing children from those who would cause them harm. They should be aware of the warning signs, recognizing what to consider as abuse or dental neglect and know how to deal with these young patients, and to fulfil their legal and ethical obligation to report suspected cases.
The purpose of this report is to review the oral and dental aspects of child abuse and dental neglect thus helping the dental team in detecting such conditions. In particular, this report addresses the evaluation of bite marks as well as perioral and intraoral injuries, infections, early childhood caries and diseases that may be indicative of child abuse or neglect.
Emphasis is placed on an appropriate protocol to follow in the dental practice to best treat and protect children who may have suffered abuse, helping the team in the diagnosis and documentation.     

Child abuse and neglect: dentistry's role

While the actual incidence of child abuse has not been determined, the available statistics are grim. The dentist must view himself as a child advocate. Simply treating dental and facial injuries of abused children while ignoring the social needs of the child and family is unacceptable. State laws mandate reporting as well as protect the dentist from civil or criminal liability. Dentistry's contribution in the management of nonaccidental injuries is the recognition of the possibility of physical abuse, the treatment of orofacial injuries and reporting to the appropriate authorities.     

Patients with special needs: dental students' educational experiences, attitudes, and behavior

Accreditation standards require U.S. dental schools to prepare their graduates for the diagnosis of treatment needs of patients with special health care needs (SHCN). The objective of this study was to explore dental students' perceptions of their education about these issues, their satisfaction with this education, and their professional attitudes and behavioral intentions concerning treating patients with SHCN in the future. Web-based survey data were collected from forty-nine dental student leaders in thirteen U.S. dental schools and paper-and-pencil survey data from 397 dental students at a Midwestern dental school. Most respondents agreed that it is important to be educated about providing care for patients with SHCN and that they will provide care for these patients in the future. However, their satisfaction with their education was not equally positive. Their perceived quality of their dental education was correlated with their confidence concerning treating SHCN patients; their confidence was in turn correlated with their intentions to include these patients in their patient families in their future professional lives. In conclusion, dental students are strongly motivated to learn about providing care for patients with SHCN. The better their dental education prepares them for this task, the more confident they will be when treating these patients and the more likely they will be to provide care for these patients.     

Treating patients with herpes simplex virus infections: dental and dental hygiene students' knowledge, attitudes, and professional behavior

Dental and dental hygiene students frequently interact with patients with herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections, often simply referred to as cold sores. The objectives of this study were to assess dental and dental hygiene students' knowledge, attitudes, and professional behavior concerning the treatment of patients with HSV infections and to investigate the relationships among knowledge, attitudes, and professional behavior. Questionnaire data were collected from 337 dental and seventy-three dental hygiene students at regularly scheduled classes. Dental and dental hygiene students did not differ in their overall knowledge concerning HSV infections. Dental hygiene students were more apprehensive about treating patients with these infections, but used more appropriate professional behavior compared to dental students. Dental students' knowledge and appropriateness of professional behavior increased over the course of their education. Overall, it was found that an increase in student knowledge was associated with increased apprehension related to treating these patients. However, the more apprehensive they were, the more they engaged in appropriate professional behavior. Educating future health care providers about the treatment of patients with infectious and communicable diseases can potentially increase the students' apprehension/negative attitudes concerning providing care, while at the same time increasing appropriate professional behavior during their education. Addressing students' apprehensions might be a crucial moderator that will determine whether they will provide the best possible care for these patients in their future professional lives.     

Moving research knowledge into dental hygiene practice

Dental hygiene, as an emerging profession, needs to increase the number of intervention studies that identify improvements in oral health outcomes for clients. Historically, dental hygiene studies have typically been atheoretical, but the use of theoretical frameworks to guide these studies will increase their meaningfulness. Rogers' theory of diffusion of innovations has been used to study research utilization across many disciplines, and may offer insights to the study of research use in dental hygiene. Research use is an important component of evidence-based practice (EBP), and diffusion of research knowledge is an important process in implementing EBP. The purpose of this paper is to use diffusion of innovations theory to examine knowledge movement in dental hygiene, specifically through the example of the preventive practice of oral cancer screening by dental hygienists, considered as an innovation. Diffusion is considered to be the process by which an innovation moves through communication channels over time among a social network. We suggest diffusion theory holds promise for the study of knowledge movement in dental hygiene, but there are limitations including access to and understanding research studies as innovations. Nevertheless, using a theoretical framework such as Rogers' diffusion of innovations will strengthen the quality of intervention research in dental hygiene, and subsequently, health outcomes for clients.