Abstract
Sports is considered as one of the most common reasons of the orofacial trauma in school-age children. Sports-related mouth guards minimize the risk of injuries in school-age children. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge of parents about the use of mouth guards by their children during different activities. Cross-sectional survey composed of a questionnaire with 21 multiple choice questions was randomly distributed to 319 parents who have school-age children (7-12 years old). Out of the 319 subjects responded to this study, there were 77.4% mothers. The distribution of characteristics of children shows 56.1% were male. About 65.8% of the children play sports. The maximum number of children (38.3%) had facial bruising followed by other type of injuries. The primary baby teeth were affected in the injury for 38.3% of children. Only 16 (34%) of these injured children had visited the dentist. The knowledge towards mouth guard was assessed among the parents, where only 17.9% of them were familiar with sports mouth guard. A small number 5(1.6%) of them responded that their children use mouth guard during sports. Those who did not use mouth guard, 248(81.3%) had responded as "lack of information about it" as the main reason and 43.9% of them were aware that mouth guard can prevent oral/dental injury. In conclusion there is a lack of parental knowledge regarding the importance of use of mouth guards in reducing dental injuries in school-age children. Professional and parents should be educated regarding the use of mouth guards during activities.