Chilean Dentist’s Perception and Action Towards cases of Physical Violence Against Women in a Domestic/Intimate Partner Context

Paula Labbé De la Fuente & Diego Medina de Cortillas

Summary

Physical and/or sexual gender violence affects more than 30 % of women in the world and in Chile, impacting everyone's health. Both, WHO and the literature, suggest addressing this problem from public health, with an emphasis on its workers. Dentists would have a special role, due to the location of this type of injury and greater exposure. But, they do not consider relevance and their approach is deficient. Our objective is to know how dentists in Chile perceive and approach this type of case. Descriptive and cross-sectional study of dentists subscribed to College of Dental Surgeons of Chile´s social networks, prior approval of its 2021 directive and the Ethics Committee of the UdeC School of Dentistry (C.E.C. Nº19/21). Under informed consent, a sociodemographic survey was applied on the perception and approach of dentists in cases of physical violence against women in the context of Domestic Violence/Intimate Partner. 175 dentists participated. 53 % have encountered these cases during professional practice and more than 80 % perceive an active role in dealing with the problem. However, 74 % have difficulty in detecting injuries and 78 % in referral to support networks. 91 % did not receive training in this regard during undergraduate studies, but are interested in acquiring more knowledge. Chilean dentists are exposed to this type of cases and perceive an active role. However, they are difficult to detect and treat and could benefit from additional training in this regard.

KEY WORDS: Intimate partner violence, domestic violence, dentists role.

How to cite this article

LABBÉ, P. & MEDINA, D. C. D. Chilean dentist’s perception and action towards cases of physical violence against women in a domestic/partner context. Int. J. Odontostomat., 17(2):167-173, 2023.