Gunjeeta Diwaker | University of Saskatchewan (original) (raw)
Papers by Gunjeeta Diwaker
The journal of contemporary dental practice, 2017
Child abuse and neglect (CAN) is a significant global problem with a serious impact on the victim... more Child abuse and neglect (CAN) is a significant global problem with a serious impact on the victims throughout their lives. Dentists have the unique opportunity to address this problem. However, reporting such cases has become a sensitive issue due to the uncertainty of the diagnosis. The authors are testing the knowledge of the dentists toward CAN and also trying to question the efforts of the educational institutions to improve this knowledge for the better future of the younger generation. Questionnaire data were distributed to 1,106 members regarding their knowledge, professional responsibilities, and behavior concerning child abuse. There were 762 responses to the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 68.9%. Although dentists consider themselves able to identify suspicious cases, only a small percentage of the participants correctly identified all signs of abuse and 76.8% knew the indicators of child abuse. Most of them were willing to get involved in detecting a case and a...
Child abuse and neglect (CAN) is a significant global problem with a serious impact on the victim... more Child abuse and neglect (CAN) is a significant global problem with a serious impact on the victims throughout their lives. Dentists have the unique opportunity to address this problem. However, reporting such cases has become a sensitive issue due to the uncertainty of the diagnosis, especial among dental students. The authors are testing the knowledge of the dentists toward CAN and efficiency of the current education system in providing the required exposure to the issue.
Materials and methods: A survey questionnaire was distributed to 1,106 dentists/ dental students in various dental schools in Pune, India.
Results: 762 participants responded, yielding a response rate of 68.9%. only a small percentage of the participants correctly identified all signs of abuse and 76.8% demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the indicators of child abuse. 90% participants believed that it is their ethical duty to report child abuse. Only 7.2% reported haveing come across a suspected abuse case in the past. No differences were observed between gender, year of graduation,
type of license and formal training already received.
Conclusion: A large proportion of child physical abuse cases go undocumented and unreported. The data showed that a very small population of dental care providers and students were prepared to fulfill their legal and professional responsibilities to manage a case of child abuse and neglect
Clinical significance: There should be modifications in the dental school curriculum focusing on educational exposure around the child abuse in order to better prepare the dental community to detect and manage cases of CAN.
Dental and periodontal problems are common in pregnant women, more so in women belonging to low s... more Dental and periodontal problems are common in pregnant women, more so in women belonging to low socioeconomic strata and those living in rural areas. Severe periodontal diseases can lead to adverse birth outcomes like preterm delivery and low birth weight babies. Although largely preventable through evidence based interventions, periodontal diseases are highly prevalent in the pregnant female population of rural India. The single best strategy to approach this problem is providing oral health education to these females. However, currently there are no existing policies to address this issue. We propose integrating an " Oral Health " component in the antenatal care program. Training health professionals and ASHAs to deliver this information is a cost effective, efficacious and feasible policy option requiring minimum effort on the part of stakeholders. Context " You lose one tooth for every baby you have " is a commonly held myth regarding oral health and pregnancy. A woman's pregnancy experience is often related to one or both of the two most prevalent diseases of the oral cavity, namely dental caries and periodontitis. Hormonal changes during pregnancy are associated with increased risk of gingivitis, a milder form of and precursor to more severe periodontal disease [1,2], making pregnant women more vulnerable to oral health issues. Studies suggest an association between severe periodontal disease and adverse birth outcomes such as preterm delivery and infant low birth weight [3-5]. Other hypothesized associations are with diseases like atherosclerosis [6], rheumatoid arthritis [7], diabetes [8] and increased chances of offspring suffering from early and severe dental caries [4,9]. Although largely preventable through evidence-based interventions, both periodontal disease and caries in women of child bearing age are highly prevalent across the world, particularly among low-income women and members of racial and ethnic minority groups [10-12]. Also, the perceived barriers to dental care access may be greater for pregnant women because the window of treatment is limited to the second trimester (approximately 4 months). It has also been observed that general practitioners and midwives are inadequately informed about the impact of poor maternal oral health and rarely investigate this issue during prenatal care. Many general practitioners also believe that all dental procedures are unsafe during entire pregnancy [13]. Despite the large proportion of pregnant women who have dental problems, 40% of them do not visit dentist during pregnancy, and the majority of those who utilize dental services do so only in the event of dental pain [4,13-15]. A research conducted in Sri Lanka shows that pregnant women in rural areas had a significantly higher
The journal of contemporary dental practice, 2017
Child abuse and neglect (CAN) is a significant global problem with a serious impact on the victim... more Child abuse and neglect (CAN) is a significant global problem with a serious impact on the victims throughout their lives. Dentists have the unique opportunity to address this problem. However, reporting such cases has become a sensitive issue due to the uncertainty of the diagnosis. The authors are testing the knowledge of the dentists toward CAN and also trying to question the efforts of the educational institutions to improve this knowledge for the better future of the younger generation. Questionnaire data were distributed to 1,106 members regarding their knowledge, professional responsibilities, and behavior concerning child abuse. There were 762 responses to the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 68.9%. Although dentists consider themselves able to identify suspicious cases, only a small percentage of the participants correctly identified all signs of abuse and 76.8% knew the indicators of child abuse. Most of them were willing to get involved in detecting a case and a...
Child abuse and neglect (CAN) is a significant global problem with a serious impact on the victim... more Child abuse and neglect (CAN) is a significant global problem with a serious impact on the victims throughout their lives. Dentists have the unique opportunity to address this problem. However, reporting such cases has become a sensitive issue due to the uncertainty of the diagnosis, especial among dental students. The authors are testing the knowledge of the dentists toward CAN and efficiency of the current education system in providing the required exposure to the issue.
Materials and methods: A survey questionnaire was distributed to 1,106 dentists/ dental students in various dental schools in Pune, India.
Results: 762 participants responded, yielding a response rate of 68.9%. only a small percentage of the participants correctly identified all signs of abuse and 76.8% demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the indicators of child abuse. 90% participants believed that it is their ethical duty to report child abuse. Only 7.2% reported haveing come across a suspected abuse case in the past. No differences were observed between gender, year of graduation,
type of license and formal training already received.
Conclusion: A large proportion of child physical abuse cases go undocumented and unreported. The data showed that a very small population of dental care providers and students were prepared to fulfill their legal and professional responsibilities to manage a case of child abuse and neglect
Clinical significance: There should be modifications in the dental school curriculum focusing on educational exposure around the child abuse in order to better prepare the dental community to detect and manage cases of CAN.
Dental and periodontal problems are common in pregnant women, more so in women belonging to low s... more Dental and periodontal problems are common in pregnant women, more so in women belonging to low socioeconomic strata and those living in rural areas. Severe periodontal diseases can lead to adverse birth outcomes like preterm delivery and low birth weight babies. Although largely preventable through evidence based interventions, periodontal diseases are highly prevalent in the pregnant female population of rural India. The single best strategy to approach this problem is providing oral health education to these females. However, currently there are no existing policies to address this issue. We propose integrating an " Oral Health " component in the antenatal care program. Training health professionals and ASHAs to deliver this information is a cost effective, efficacious and feasible policy option requiring minimum effort on the part of stakeholders. Context " You lose one tooth for every baby you have " is a commonly held myth regarding oral health and pregnancy. A woman's pregnancy experience is often related to one or both of the two most prevalent diseases of the oral cavity, namely dental caries and periodontitis. Hormonal changes during pregnancy are associated with increased risk of gingivitis, a milder form of and precursor to more severe periodontal disease [1,2], making pregnant women more vulnerable to oral health issues. Studies suggest an association between severe periodontal disease and adverse birth outcomes such as preterm delivery and infant low birth weight [3-5]. Other hypothesized associations are with diseases like atherosclerosis [6], rheumatoid arthritis [7], diabetes [8] and increased chances of offspring suffering from early and severe dental caries [4,9]. Although largely preventable through evidence-based interventions, both periodontal disease and caries in women of child bearing age are highly prevalent across the world, particularly among low-income women and members of racial and ethnic minority groups [10-12]. Also, the perceived barriers to dental care access may be greater for pregnant women because the window of treatment is limited to the second trimester (approximately 4 months). It has also been observed that general practitioners and midwives are inadequately informed about the impact of poor maternal oral health and rarely investigate this issue during prenatal care. Many general practitioners also believe that all dental procedures are unsafe during entire pregnancy [13]. Despite the large proportion of pregnant women who have dental problems, 40% of them do not visit dentist during pregnancy, and the majority of those who utilize dental services do so only in the event of dental pain [4,13-15]. A research conducted in Sri Lanka shows that pregnant women in rural areas had a significantly higher