The UK government, Department of Health and Social Care defines four categories of child abuse and neglect [1]
Physical abuse might involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm might also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately causes, illness in a child.
Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. Emotional abuse may involve bullying, including online bullying via social media networks.
Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, including prostitution, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening.
Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Faltering growth (previously known as non- organic failure to thrive) refers to an inability to reach normal weight and growth or to reach development milestones in the absence of medical discernible physical and genetic reasons. This may be associated with chronic neglect [2].
- Dental neglect is considered to be a failure to respond to a known significant dental problem.
Abuse or neglect can present to the dental team in several ways:
- through a direct allegation (sometimes termed a ‘disclosure’ that is made by the child, a parent or another person)
- through observation, by a dental team member, of signs and symptoms that are suggestive of physical abuse or neglect
- through observations of a child's behaviour or parent/carer–child interaction by a dental team member.
Irrespective of the manner by which concerns are raised, take any concerns seriously and take appropriate action (see What to do if you're worried about a child).