Relationship between gender, teaching experience, subject taught, and teacher's attitude and knowledge toward dental trauma in children

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between gender, teaching experience, and subject taught by the primary school teacher and the attitude as well as knowledge of the teacher about dental trauma in the Indonesian population. Materials and Methods: Ninety teachers from 14 public elementary schools in Central Jakarta were randomly chosen to fill in a questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the Kendall rank correlation. Results: A significant relationship (weak negative linear correlation) between teaching experience and teacher's attitude (p<0.05) was observed. No significant correlation between attitude and knowledge and the other variables were noted. Conclusions: A significant relationship between teaching experience and the teacher's attitude toward dental trauma in children was observed. In general, the attitude toward dental trauma in children was positive whereas, knowledge about dental trauma was insufficient among the teachers.