Knowledge and Awareness Regarding Avulsion and Its Immediate Treatment in School Teachers in Bangalore City (South)

BACKGROUND: Dental traumas are most common in children in school environment. Teachers often come across such emergency situations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate aware-ness of teachers regarding traumas & emergency management. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 123 teachers participated in this survey. Questionnaire forms were distributed among teachers. The data was collected and analysed. RESULTS: Results showed that 97.5%of teachers received no orientation regarding this, 33.3% of them felt they cannot identify the tooth, 52% opined they would not pick up the tooth, 62.6% felt they should clean with water, 44.7% said they would take the child to dental office, 38.2% would seek professional help immediately, 63.4% of them said they would not be able to replace the tooth back & 40.7% of them felt they prefer water to store the tooth. CONCLUSION: Overall the knowledge in this regard is grossly inadequate. Their answers were based on intuition rather than information. This study suggests urgent need for campaigns & training programs for instructors who are usually the first to witness traumas in schools.