Every year, approximately 1,400 children die as a result of abuse and neglect in the USA. Dentists are legally required to report suspected child abuse to county authorities. Objective: This study explores whether dentists and dental hygienists as well as dental and dental hygiene students have sufficient knowledge to fulfill their professional responsibilities. Methods: Questionnaire data were collected from 217 dentists (response rate= 43.40%), and 158 dental hygienists (response rate=34.65%) as well as from 233 dental students (response rate = 54.82%) and 76 dental hygiene students (response rate = 76.77%). Results: While 82.4% of the dental professionals knew that they had to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect, only 72.5% of the students knew their legal responsibility (p=.001). Only 28.3% of the professionals and 18.4% of the students knew where to report suspected child abuse and neglect (p=.002). While professionals and students did not differ in their knowledge of physical signs of abuse, students were more knowledgeable concerning signs of sexual abuse than the professionals (number of correct answers: 2.24 vs. 1.72; p=.000). However, compared to students, professionals had more knowledge concerning the diagnosis of child abuse and neglect (number of correct answers: 4.66 vs. 5.02; p=.005), but were less likely to know that not reporting suspected abuse and neglect was a misdemeanor (students: 42.1% vs. professionals: 30.4%; p=.001). Conclusion: Dental care providers and students are likely to encounter child abuse victims in their professional lives. However, these data showed that not all providers and students were prepared to fulfill their legal and professional responsibilities. This research was funded by an AADR Student Research Fellowship to the first author.

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