Identifying Child Abuse: A Dental Perspective

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The Shy Patient
The office was presented with a shy, eight-year old girl, who was a new pediatric patient scheduled for a routine dental prophylaxis with a dental hygienist. During the oral exam, the dental hygienist noticed that her maxillary central incisors were fractured due to a previous accident on her bike. Being it was a new patient with no recorded history, the incident should be recorded and dated with as many details and findings as possible. Due to her age and the type of accident, it is a very believable story especially since this was the first visit to the office and there were no other incidents recorded.
At her follow up appointment, which was 6 months later, her maxillary incisors were restored but she presented with bruises around both eyes. She provided an explanation of how she had fallen down the stairs at home and sustained the bruising. Even with her mother present, no further explanation was provided about the accident. With this accident being the second incident of suspicious abuse injuries that she has presented with, further action should be taken. What once seemed like a typical accident of an eight-year-old girl on her bike, seems to be a cover up story for what is suspected to be child abuse. With a review of the patients complete dental record history, it …show more content…

If the dental hygienist chooses to not report the suspected abuse and something was to happen to the child, it could have been prevented if the abuse was reported. Not reporting the assumptions of child abuse could develop a legal case involving the dental hygienist in the future. By not reporting the findings in the patient’s oral cavity the dental hygienist is also breaking the ADHA code of ethics by not promoting non-maleficence; In doing this the dental hygienist would be causing more harm to the patient than

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