Violence against children and adolescents from the dentist's perspective in covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: violence is considered a public health problem in which the orofacial region and neck are areas that can be affected. Objective: to investigate the perception and knowledge of dentists working in health care units and hospitals in Bahia, Brazil, regarding violence against children and adolescents and the possible increase in cases due to the social isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: this study was approved by the Ethics Committee (CAAE: 35822820.3.0000.0055). It is characterized as quantitative and cross-sectional. It was conducted using an online self-administered questionnaire and the data obtained were submitted to descriptive analysis and Fisher's exact test, being considered statistically significant when p ≤ 0.05. Results: The sample was composed of 50 dentists. About knowing the types of violence, 98% responded positively and 60% did not consider themselves capable of identifying it. As for the period before the social isolation, 53% of the professionals have already identified and 22% have made the notification of cases of child maltreatment. After that moment, 92% did not notice cases of child abuse during the dental care and 6% did notify. There was a significant difference when the ability to identify cases of violence was associated with the place of practice (metropolitan city or countryside). In addition, 74% never underwent notification and identification training during their professional training. Conclusion: It is undeniable that the dentist is not yet prepared to identify and notify cases of child violence.