Abstract

MORALES CHAVEZ, Mariana C. Rol del Odontopediatra en el Diagnóstico de Maltrato Infantil. Acta odontol. venez [online]. 2009, vol.47, n.2, pp.488-494. ISSN 0001-6365.

Child Abuse is considered to be any action or omission driving to an aggression, physical abuse or negligence, psychological, social, moral forms of abuse, incured by the parents or custodians of said child and said to interfere in the child's normal growth process.  Domestic violence is a complex social issue and the sanitary personnel plays a vital role in its detection. Molesting parents usually change their child's treating physician to avoid getting caught, however, the dentist has the possibility to hold continuous appointments with the patient (generally twice a year), this makes him/her a key player in the detection of Child Abuse. Due to said advantage, it becomes necessary for the Pediatric Dentist to be aware of this risk indicators, alarm signs and clinical features of an abuse child and be able to give the specialist the necessary tools to diagnose and prosecute child molesters and avoid the thousands of victims that die every year due to child abuse.

Keywords : Maltrato Infantil; lesiones por maltrato; agresión; odontopediatra.