Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice amongst General Dentists Regarding Dental Pain Perception in Children

AIM: The objective of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice among general dentists regarding perception of dental pain in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 208 general dentists in a dental hospital in Chennai. A self-constructed questionnaire was distributed to the dental practitioners, which comprised 23 closed-ended questions. The data were entered and analyzed for frequency and percentages by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 21. RESULTS: Results showed that most of the dentists (46%) treated less than five children per week and were having less than 2 years of experience (47%). Seventy one percent of the dentists felt that they did not feel prepared to identify a child with dental pain, and 57% of the dentists had less than two years of experience CONCLUSION: Most of the dentists did not feel prepared to identify the children with dental pain. Measures should be introduced to train the general dental practitioners in identifying pain perception in children so as to achieve effective behavior management of children. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Subramanyam D, Gurunathan D. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice amongst General Dentists Regarding Dental Pain Perception in Children. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2020;13(3):207–210.