Contribution of pedodontists in management and care of abused or neglected children

AbstractAIM. This work aims to make a modest contribution to educate dental practitioners on the issue of child abuse and / or child neglect.MATERIAL AND METHODS. Clinical examination of patients collects various parameters including statistical correlations. They were obtained by analysis of the Mann-Whitney test data (SPSS 19.0).RESULTS. There is a significant difference (p-value <0.05) between the control group and the target group, regardless of the type of abuse, as regards the number of caries, the presence of plaque and gingivitis. It is important to note the significant difference between the two groups regarding the number of fractured or dyschromic teeth.DISCUSSION. Abused children do not receive the same care that children who are not abused; not enjoying the same access to dental care (among others) as the children of the healthy group, it is easily understandable that the abused group has a significantly larger number of cavities, fractured teeth and discolored than the healthy group, regardless of type abuse.CONCLUSION. Dental prevention for parents, through training, prospectuses or advertising is essential to move towards a better situation.

Keywords:Abuse, Neglect, prevention, pediatric dentistry