Awareness of sports-related dental emergencies and prevention practices among Libyan contact sports coaches: A cross-sectional study.

Background and aims: Despite the high incidence rate of dental trauma and its possible devastating physical and psychological consequences on children, little is known about sport-related dental trauma and its prevention and management among Libyan sports coaches. The present study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of Benghazi contact sports coaches regarding sport-related dental trauma and its prevention and management. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used. Two hundred and thirty-one contact sports coaches were recruited from different public and private youth sports centers across Benghazi. The data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire translated into Arabic and piloted to evaluate its validity and clarity. In addition, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and χ 2 tests were used to check associations between the variables. Results: A total of 151 contact sports coaches returned a completed questionnaire; the majority of coaches (74%) have seen orofacial injuries during their coaching career, whereas less than half of them (47%) personally experienced these injuries. Only one participant said he would preserve the tooth in milk, and four indicated that they would replant it. Most coaches (89.4%) knew what a mouthguard is, but 53.6% would recommend its use, and these were more likely to have previously used mouthguards (p ≤ 0.001). About 41.1% received previous training on TDIs-related emergencies. Higher knowledge scores were observed among coaches who previously received training (p = 0.023). Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate low awareness of how to manage and prevent orofacial injuries among Libyan contact sports coaches, even though they commonly encounter these injuries and believe in mouthguards' effectiveness. Previous training on managing emergencies and experience appeared to influence the coaches' knowledge. Training coaches on preventing TDIs and their early management in sports fields should be an implemented policy and a prerequisite to obtaining a training license.

Dental Fluorosis and Its Associated Factors Amongst Libyan Schoolchildren.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about dental fluorosis (DF) in Benghazi, Libya, where the public water supply is naturally fluoridated. OBJECTIVE: The study aims to investigate the distribution of DF and its related risk factors and impact on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and the association between DF and caries amongst Libyan school children. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was carried out amongst 12-year-old schoolchildren in the city of Benghazi. Dean's and decayed, missing, and filled surfaces (DMF) indices were used to assess the severity of DF and dental caries. In addition, a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic and behavioural information and OHRQoL using the Child Oral Health Impact Profile-Short Version 19 (COHIP-SF19). RESULTS: Out of 1125 children who participated in the study, 15%, 7.8%, 2.2%, and 0.4% of participants were coded as having questionable, mild, moderate, and severe DF, respectively. Children enrolled in private schools were less likely to have DF (odds ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.35-0.83; P = .007). Moderate-severe DF was associated with more decayed surfaces and DMF scores and low scores for COHIP-SF19 and its socioemotional well-being subscale. CONCLUSIONS: The data demonstrate that rates of DF are relatively low in naturally fluoridated areas in Libya. DF amongst Libyan schoolchildren was associated with social disparities, higher caries rates, and negative impacts on OHRQoL.

Rural-urban disparity in oral health-related quality of life.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this population-based cross-sectional study was to estimate rural-urban disparity in the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of the Quebec adult population. METHODS: A 2-stage sampling design was used to collect data from the 1788 parents/caregivers of schoolchildren living in the 8 regions of the province of Quebec in Canada. Andersen's behavioural model for health services utilization was used as a conceptual framework. Place of residency was defined according to the Statistics Canada Census Metropolitan Area and Census Agglomeration Influenced Zone classification. The outcome of interest was OHRQoL measured using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP)-14 validated questionnaire. Data weighting was applied, and the prevalence, extent and severity of negative oral health impacts were calculated. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses and binary logistic regression. RESULTS: The prevalence of poor oral health-related quality life (OHRQoL) was statistically higher in rural areas than in urban zones (P = .02). Rural residents reported a significantly higher prevalence of negative daily-life impacts in pain, psychological discomfort and social disability OHIP domains (P < .05). Additionally, the rural population showed a greater number of negative oral health impacts (P = .03). There was no significant rural-urban difference in the severity of poor oral health. Logistic regression indicated that the prevalence of poor OHRQoL was significantly related to place of residency (OR = 1.6; 95% CI = 1.1-2.5; P = .022), perceived oral health (OR = 9.4; 95% CI = 5.7-15.5; P < .001), dental treatment needs factors (perceived need for dental treatment, pain, dental care seeking) (OR = 8.7; 95% CI = 4.8-15.6; P < .001) and education (OR = 2.7; 95% CI = 1.8-3.9; P < .001). CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest a potential difference in OHRQoL of Quebec rural and urban populations, and a need to develop strategies to promote oral health outcomes, specifically for rural residents. Further studies are needed to confirm these results.