Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Sports Dental Injuries and its Prevention among Mothers of Children in Sullia - A Cross-Sectional Study

Aim: This study evaluates the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of mothers in Sullia regarding the prevention of sports-related dental injuries in children. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 348 mothers/caregivers of children aged 4-14 years engaged in sports at a randomly selected school in Sullia, Karnataka. A structured questionnaire with 20 closed-ended questions was distributed through school teachers over ten days. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The study included 350 participants with a mean age of 12.31 years; 62% were 13 years old, and 68% were male. All parents reported their children participated in sports, primarily contact sports (37.7%). Only 1.4% received professional guidance on dental injury prevention, despite 99.1% recognizing the need for education. Awareness of dental injury risks was low; only 23.4% identified high-risk sports. While 80.6% reported injuries, only 42.9% knew about reimplantation possibilities. Awareness of mouthguards was minimal (0.9%), with discomfort and perceived lack of importance cited as barriers. Conclusion: The findings highlight a significant need for educational initiatives to enhance maternal knowledge about dental injury prevention in sports. Training programs should include emergency management and promote protective devices like mouthguards, alongside collaboration between dentists and sports academies to reduce preventable dental injuries among child athletes.