462 - Athletic Trainers' Knowledge Related to Athletic-Related Dental Trauma

Purpose: To evaluate the foundational knowledge of athletic trainers (ATs) to appropriately manage dental injuries.
Material and

Methods: A survey was created and shared across three professional group Facebook pages for athletic trainers. The invitation and link were shared twice over three weeks. The survey queried for respondent characteristics and presented four dental trauma cases to assess the AT’s knowledge to appropriately diagnose and manage athletic dental injuries. Recorded data was not identifiable.

Results: Of 131 initiated surveys, 122 were completed. When asked to rate confidence levels to treat dental trauma, the ATs responded as follows, respectively: 4% strongly agreed, 47% agreed, 27% neither agreed or disagreed, 18% disagreed, and 2% strongly disagreed. The percentage of correct diagnoses and appropriate management were as follows: intrusion case 41% and 76%, avulsion case 68% and 57%, complicated crown case 70% and 28%, and luxation case 43% and 40%.

Conclusion: Management of dental injuries is not required content in all athletic trainers' foundational education (CAATE, 2022). The National Athletic Trainers' Association published a professional position statement related to identification and management of dental injuries in sport (Goule et al., 2016). The results of this work showed that there are many athletic trainers accurately diagnosing and managing dental injuries, but there are many who do not. This is significant because timely and efficient management of dental injuries, specifically avulsions, are vital for saving a tooth. Continuing education (CE) should be provided to athletics personnel (ATs and coaches) by dental professionals. Interprofessional collaborations between a university's Dental School and Athletic Training Education program, for example, could narrow this knowledge gap for athletic trainers and also prove beneficial to engaging dental professionals as integral members of the sports medicine team.