What are health professionals' perceptions and attitudes regarding children with early childhood caries and their families? A qualitative research protocol to assess oral health stigma in the medical setting.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Dental caries is one of the most common non-communicable diseases in children. The disease management of caries relies on both a preventive individual approach (fluoridation, risk evaluation) and the surgical treatment of established carious lesions. Similar to other non-communicable diseases (obesity, mental diseases, etc), health professionals' negative perceptions of patients have been shown to affect the quality of disease management. Regarding dental caries in children, some data have indicated the presence of discriminating beliefs and behaviours towards these children and their families in the medical setting. However, oral health stigma related to dental care remains a largely unexplored issue.

Methods and analysis

This study presents an exploratory rese

SUBMITTER: Lienhart G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9716888 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature