title: Recognizing and reporting dental violence: a survey of dental practitioners.
abstract: A survey was sent to 1,000 Colorado dentists to evaluate their recognition and reporting of child, elder, and spouse abuse. Approximately 40% of the dentists returned the survey. In answering questions about suspected and reported cases of child abuse, 29% of the respondents indicated that they had suspected at least one of their patients to be a victim of child abuse, while 14% of the respondents had actually reported at least one case. Only 7% of the responding dentists had ever suspected a case of elder abuse, while just over 1% indicated that they had reported at least one suspected elder abuse case to authorities. When asked about their recognition and reporting of spouse abuse, 30% of the responding practitioners had suspected at least one case, while only 3% had ever actually reported a case to authorities. The overwhelming majority of responding dentists indicated that they needed to know more about child, elder, and spouse abuse.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Biological Sciences, University of Colorado Health Science Center, School of Dentistry, Denver 80262.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: McDowell
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Kassebaum
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Fryer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D003815:Dentists / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D017579:Domestic Violence; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012308:Risk Management; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires