Review article
The Role of Dentists in Recognition of Child Abuse
Ivana ČUKOVIĆ BAGIĆ
; Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, School of Dental Medicine University of Zagreb
Abstract
Early recognition of abused children is an important task with legal obligation for all medical professionals that deal with children. Abuse encompasses a number of categories: neglect, emotional, physical and sexual abuse. The most frequent type of abuse is neglect. The dental literature includes the term dental neglect, a subgroup of medical neglect. It is often manifested by early childhood caries (which has long-term effects on general health and is frequently an outstanding symptom of a generally neglected child), untreated pain, inflammation, bleeding or trauma of the orofacial area, as well as delayed seeking of professional dental help. Adequate knowledge is required from all members of the dental team regarding different types of abuse; it is a necessary prerequisite for the discovery of abuse and delivering aid to the abused child in the dental practice.
Keywords
Children Abuse; Ethic, Dental; Children; Professional-Patient Relations
Hrčak ID:
62090
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2010.
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