Do Parents’ Oral Health Literacy Levels Influence Their Response to Interventions to Improve Their Knowledge of Traumatic Dental Injuries?

Influence of Conservative or Invasive Treatments on the Occurrence of Sequelae in Permanent Successors After Injuries in the Support Tissues of Incisors Deciduous Teeth: A Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE

To assess the influence of conservative or invasive treatments on the appearance of sequelae in permanent successor teeth (SPT) after injuries in the support tissues of anterior deciduous teeth (ISTDT).

METHODS

This cohort study accompanied 52 children with ISTDT up to the complete eruption of the permanent successor to investigate the presence or not of SPT. Trauma was clinically evaluated according to the International Association for Dental Traumatology. Sex, age at the time of trauma (ATT), type and severity of trauma, sequelae in anterior deciduous teeth (SDT), treatment type (conservative-without exodontia/ invasive-with exodontia), seeking care (immediate/late), and the caregiver's education level (CEL) were collected. Regression models were performed (p = 0.05).

RESULTS

Of the children (ATT = 3.6 ± 1.5 years), boys (52/57.1%) were the majority. The teeth (n = 91) injuries were lateral luxation (26/28.6%), intrusion (22/24.1%), concussion (20/22.0%), subluxation (19/20.9%), and extrusion (4/4.4%), that affected only incisors. Most teeth (63/69.2%) received late care, presented SDT (62/68.1%) and were treated conservatively (73/80.2%). There was no association of sex (p = 0.611), SDT (p = 0.705) and seeking care (p = 0.800) with SPT. The treatment type did not influence the SPT occurrence (p = 0.923), independent of the ATT, trauma severity and the educational level of the caregiver. The lower the ATT (p = 0.026) and the more severe the trauma (p = 0.009), the higher the number of SPT.

CONCLUSION

The treatment type of anterior deciduous teeth, mainly considering incisors, did not influence the appearance of SPT, which leads us to always choose the most conservative treatment, independent of the child's age, the injury severity, and the caregiver's educational level.

The influence of different dimensions of oral health literacy on parental attitudes and comprehension of an information leaflet about permanent tooth avulsion

BACKGROUND/AIM

Permanent tooth avulsion requires proper management at the time of the accident and parental oral health literacy (OHL) may influence decision-making with regards to dental trauma. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of OHL on: (1) self-rated comprehension of an information leaflet (IL), (2) self-rated capacity to execute the tasks proposed on the IL, and (3) attitudes regarding the avulsion of a permanent tooth in children.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A longitudinal study was conducted involving the reading of an IL by 466 parents/caregivers. Evaluations were performed prior to the IL (Phase I), immediately after the application of the IL (Phase II) and 60 days after the application of the IL (Phase III). Self-rated comprehension and capacity to execute the proposed tasks were analyzed in Phase II. Attitude was evaluated in all three phases. Functional OHL was measured using the BREALD-30 and interactive OHL was measured using HeLD-14.

RESULTS

Correlations were found between self-rated comprehension and both the OHL/BREALD-30 score (rs = 0.179; p = .012) and OHL/HeLD-14 score (r = 0.258; p < .001). Correlations were also found between the self-rated capacity to execute the proposed tasks and both the OHL/BREALD-30 score (rs = 0.133; p = .047) and the OHL/HeLD-14 score (rs = 0.225; p < .001). Higher BREALD-30 and HeLD-14 scores were associated with a better performance regarding parental attitudes toward permanent tooth avulsion comparing Phases I and II and Phases II and III (p < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Higher levels of OHL were associated with better parental self-rated comprehension of the IL and the capacity to execute the tasks proposed therein as well as more adequate attitudes regarding the avulsion of a permanent tooth.