Dental trauma represents one of the most prevalent oral health challenges among children and adolescents. The objective of this research was to assess the knowledge and clinical practices of Croatian pediatricians regarding the management of dental injuries and their awareness of mouthguards as protective devices against such trauma. A cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire was conducted among 186 pediatricians, gathering data on demographics, professional experience, and familiarity with dental injury management. The responses were analyzed using Student’s t-test or one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test (p ≤ 0.05).
The overall mean knowledge score for dental trauma management was 3.6 ± 1.53. Better performance was observed among male pediatricians (p = 0.016), those who had previously encountered dental trauma (p = 0.003), and those with more than 10 years of pediatric experience (p = 0.027). Multiple linear regression revealed significant associations between knowledge of emergency management and both the level of healthcare practice (β = −0.254, p = 0.002) and the number of patients treated daily (β = −0.187, p = 0.030). Croatian pediatricians demonstrated limited understanding of first-line management of traumatic dental injuries. Therefore, incorporating formal training modules on dental trauma management into medical and pediatric curricula is strongly recommended.
