Oral health and oral lesions in children: assessment of pediatricians' knowledge, practices, and attitudes

Objectives: The study aimed to evaluate the pediatrician's knowledge, practices, and attitudes regarding oral health promotion, oral care, caries, and oral lesions in children.Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out with pediatricians from the State of Alagoas, Brazil. Data were collected between March and June 2019 through a questionnaire answered by 134 pediatricians.Results: Although 91% of the sample reported that they recommended starting toothbrush-ing after the first tooth eruption, only 10.4% recommended using toothpaste based on evi-dence (containing at least 1000 ppm of fluoride). Regarding dietary advice, 71% of the sam-ple admitted warning about excessive consumption of sugary foods, but only 28.4% recognized sucrose (cane sugar) as the most cariogenic carbohydrate in the diet. Most of the sample (59.7%) claimed to recognize the first signs of caries, although only 10% classified the presence of white spots as an early sign of the disease.Conclusions: Pediatricians' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding oral health are essential to guide their clinical conduct based on scientific evidence. (Rev Port Estomatol Med Dent Cir Maxilofac. 2023;64(1):42-49)(c) 2023 Sociedade Portuguesa de Estomatologia e Medicina Dentaria. Published by SPEMD. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).