Assessment of Pediatricians’ Knowledge, Practices, and Attitudes on Oral Health/Care in Children in the Last Decade: A Systematic Scoping Review and Critical Reflection

Pediatricians are primary health care professionals who supervise the growth and development and treat infants and children during the first years of life. Thus, they should possess knowledge regarding oral health care, to provide anticipatory guidance, as well as dental education to parents in order to make appropriate clinical decisions. For many years, several surveys have been performed worldwide to assess the pediatricians’ knowledge, awareness, and experience regarding oral health care and prevention. This work aimed to scope the existing literature and summarize the most relevant evidence about knowledge, practices, and attitudes on oral health/care among pediatricians worldwide. PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and Dentistry & Oral Sciences Source were explored. Under a structured PCC question and eligibility criteria, for relevant clinical trials and observational studies, published during the last decade. Titles and abstracts were screened. Full-text articles were critically reviewed for bias risk and a data charting table was constructed. A total of 44 references were initially identified, and 37 titles remained for abstract screening after removing duplicates; then, 27 potential full-text articles were carefully reviewed. Finally, 25 relevant and most informative studies were included. The selected studies were conducted in India, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Paraguay, Europe, Australia, Qatar, Iran, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Taiwan, Canada, and the USA. Through included surveys, researchers have reported different levels of knowledge, practice involvement, and attitude on children’s oral health among pediatricians. In general, unsatisfactory knowledge of oral health was reported. The main impediments for a better professional involvement or practice include inappropriate education, poor auto-confidence, and lack of time. So, it has been suggested that some oral health training or clinical guidelines should be included in the current medical curricula.

Pediatricians; Knowledge; Practice; Attitude; Children’s Oral Health

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