Aim up to today, little attention and training has been paid in the Italian dental field, to a dramatically widespread problem, childhood abuse and neglect (CAN). Our research fits into a current of thought on alerting physicians, not only paediatricians, to the problem of abused children. Violence is often part of neglect and carelessness toward children, and it often also concerns their personal hygiene and health care. Aim of our study was to verify the hypothesis that "dental neglect", intended as a specific form of neglect, is often associated to other types of neglect, and therefore it could represent an important sign in indentifying childhood abuse and neglect situations. These were investigated through the comparison between a group of children with psychological disorder and a control group, as far as their dental health is concerned. Our results indicate that the abused children show: a significantly higher dental plaque index (p=.02); a higher gingival inflammation (p=.2); a higher number of untreated decays (p=.004); more evidences of neglect (p=.0002). Additionally the abused subjects were less cooperative during dental visits (p=.0005). Our data support the hypothesis that the abused children in our group are, both under the hygiene point of view and access to treatment, more neglected by their caregivers.

The dentist's role in recognizing childhood abuses: study on the dental health of children victims of abuse and witnesses to violence / P. P., Montecchi; DI TRANI, Michela; SARZI AMADE', David; C., Bufacchi; F., Montecchi; Polimeni, Antonella. - In: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRIC DENTISTRY. - ISSN 1591-996X. - 10:4(2009), pp. 185-187.

The dentist's role in recognizing childhood abuses: study on the dental health of children victims of abuse and witnesses to violence.

DI TRANI, MICHELA;SARZI AMADE', David;POLIMENI, Antonella
2009

Abstract

Aim up to today, little attention and training has been paid in the Italian dental field, to a dramatically widespread problem, childhood abuse and neglect (CAN). Our research fits into a current of thought on alerting physicians, not only paediatricians, to the problem of abused children. Violence is often part of neglect and carelessness toward children, and it often also concerns their personal hygiene and health care. Aim of our study was to verify the hypothesis that "dental neglect", intended as a specific form of neglect, is often associated to other types of neglect, and therefore it could represent an important sign in indentifying childhood abuse and neglect situations. These were investigated through the comparison between a group of children with psychological disorder and a control group, as far as their dental health is concerned. Our results indicate that the abused children show: a significantly higher dental plaque index (p=.02); a higher gingival inflammation (p=.2); a higher number of untreated decays (p=.004); more evidences of neglect (p=.0002). Additionally the abused subjects were less cooperative during dental visits (p=.0005). Our data support the hypothesis that the abused children in our group are, both under the hygiene point of view and access to treatment, more neglected by their caregivers.
2009
dentistry; child abuse and neglect
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
The dentist's role in recognizing childhood abuses: study on the dental health of children victims of abuse and witnesses to violence / P. P., Montecchi; DI TRANI, Michela; SARZI AMADE', David; C., Bufacchi; F., Montecchi; Polimeni, Antonella. - In: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRIC DENTISTRY. - ISSN 1591-996X. - 10:4(2009), pp. 185-187.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/230599
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