Knowledge of Emergency Management of Avulsed Tooth Among Dental Surgeons of Chitwan

Abstract

Introduction: Prognosis of an avulsed tooth depends on timely and correct management. Therefore, knowledge about the emergency management of an avulsed tooth among dentists is very important. The study was aimed to access the knowledge of emergency management of avulsed tooth among the dental surgeons of Chitwan.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the dental surgeons in Chitwan using a questionnaire containing 12 items. Only 105 dental surgeons participated in the study. Data was entered into Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) version 16 and was analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results: Most of the dentist 71.4% were familiar with the correct management of the avulsed tooth before replantation. Regarding storage medium, most of the dentist 44.4% correctly choose Hank’s balanced salt solution, while 21.9% choose saliva as the best storage medium for an avulsed tooth. Similarly, 47.6% of the dentist rightly choose that less than 30 minutes was the extra alveolar critical time, while 35.2 % suggested it to be within an hour. More than half of the dentists 51.4% preferred stainless-steel wire to be the method of splinting after replantation. However, most of the dentists 75.2% correctly recommended splinting for a duration of 15 days. Almost half of the dentist 49.5% agreed that the tooth with open apex had better prognosis.

Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that the dental surgeons do have knowledge regarding emergency management of an avulsed tooth. However, with time they need to update themselves their knowledge of dental traumatology.