Knowledge and practices towards children’s preventive oral healthcare in Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the pediatrician's knowledge and practices towards dental care in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A self administered questionnaire was randomly distributed to 330 pediatricians who were licensed to practice in the three main regions of Saudi Arabia namely Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam areas. As many as 303 (92%) of the returned questionnaires were suitable for analysis. Although a great majority (92.8%) of the pediatricians considered themselves an important source of presenting preventive dental information to parents, a high percentage (80.5%) of them considered their overall dental knowledge to be unsatisfactory. Over three quarters (78.5%) of the respondents reported receiving information about preventive oral health. The study showed severe shortage in overall dental knowledge and dental preventive measures among the surveyed pediatricians...