ASSESSMENT OF FIRST AID KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PRIMARY TOOTH AVULSION IN PEDIATRICIANS OF KARNAL CITY, HARYANA, INDIA, A SURVEY STUDY

The first aid knowledge of seventy pediatricians practicing in various Government and private hospitals in Karnal city Haryana, India, were assessed through four conceptual questions a hypothetical clinical condition about anterior tooth avulsion and its re-plantation in 10 years old boy. The collected data was analyzed as a whole as well as in four different groups of pediatricians having experience as G1, < 10 years, G2, >10 to 20 years, G3, >20 to 30 years and G4, > 30 years. The percentage of pediatricians having different options for four different questions were calculated and in addition to that knowledge-score of each pediatrician was calculated by assigning one and zero to each right and wrong options of each question. Satisfactory knowledge was observed on three basic questions viz. Q1 Is the avulsed tooth likely to be primary or permanent?, answered rightly as permanent by 71.43% pediatricians with knowledge score, 0.70±0.19, Q2, How urgent do you feel that a dentists opinion is needed, accurately answered as immediately, by 67.14 % pediatricians with knowledge score, 0.65±0.15 andQ3 Do you think that a primary tooth that has been avulsed should be replanted, answered appropriately as no, by 60% pediatricians with knowledge score, 0.60±0.16, whereas, average knowledge about another basic question viz.,Q4,What would be the ideal time for replanting the avulsed tooth for the best possible prognosis?, accurately responded as within 15 to 20 minutes by 34.29% of pediatricians with knowledge score 0.33±0.06. Mild positive correlation between first aid knowledge of pediatricians with experience was observed in this study.