Awareness of Caregivers, Emergency Medical Technicians, and Emergency Medical Doctors about the Storage Media for Avulsed Teeth

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the awareness of caregivers, emergency medical technicians, and emergency medical doctors by investigating the storage media for avulsed teeth at the trauma site. This study was performed by reviewing medical records of 183 patients with the age under 17 years old, who visited Ajou University Hospital for dental trauma. Based on their medical records, storage media for avulsed permanent teeth were investigated by classifying them as dry, milk, saline, saliva and tap water. The storage media chosen by caregivers at the trauma site were classified as cases by parents and school nurse teachers. Storage media chosen by emergency medical technicians and emergency medical doctors were also investigated using the same classification criteria. The results show that both parents and school nurse teachers used milk the most as a storage medium for avulsed teeth. Dry storage was the second most chosen medium by parents, and saline by nurse teacher. As a storage media emergency medical technicians used saline the most, while emergency medical doctors used only saline when they failed to replant avulsed teeth. There is a need to improve the knowledge of caregivers, emergency medical technicians, and emergency medical doctors regarding the storage media for avulsed teeth.