Perception of dental trauma by community health workers in the Amazon region

Abstract

The high prevalence of dental trauma among the population highlights the importance of the preventative actions taken after trauma to preserve the integrity of the dental organ. The present study aimed to evaluate the perception of the Community Health Workers (CHW) in relation to dental trauma. A cross-sectional qualitative study was carried out using a questionnaire for 169 CHW of the metropolitan region of Belém, in the state of Pará, Brazil, in order to evaluate the association between the experience of the CHW and their respective knowledge and attitudes regarding dental trauma. After data tabulation, the statistical analysis of the results was performed using the chi-square and the Fisher's exact test, with an α = 0.05 level. Descriptive analysis revealed that 93.5% of the agents are unaware of what dental avulsion is, 68% would not try to reimplant in cases of avulsion and 53.84% would not store the dental fragment in any kind of solution after traumatism. This demonstrates an unsatisfactory performance of the CHW, with a lack of basic knowledge on this topic. Also, the results indicated that there is no association between the experience of the CHW and their respective knowledge and attitude concerning dentoalveolar trauma. From this study it was possible to conclude that the perceptions of CHW on dentoalveolar trauma are insufficient. Consequently, there is a need for better training and understanding on the subject so that appropriate first aid can be provided in cases of dental trauma.

Keywords

• tooth injuries. health education. primary health care. family health strategy.