The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of dental trauma as compared to the prevalence of dental caries in children aged 3-59 months. A cross-sectional study was carried out during the National Immunization Day for Polio in Recife, northeast Brazil. The sample comprised 3489 children under the age of 5. The clinical examination was performed by 123 previously trained dental students. The inter-examiner agreement for crown fracture was 90.32% and for tooth discoloration it was 83.87%. The prevalence of dental caries was assessed using the dmf-t index. The statistical methods included descriptive analysis and the chi-square test with a margin of error of 5%. A total of 56 142 teeth were examined and the prevalence of dental trauma was 14.9%. Dental fracture was the most prevalent injury observed in 516 teeth (0.9%), followed by discoloration in 191 (0.9%), intrusion in 12 (0.02%) and extrusion in five (0.008%). The most affected teeth were the upper central incisors. The prevalence of dental trauma increased significantly with age and family income (P < 0.0001). Dental trauma was most prevalent from 2 to 5 years of age. The prevalence of dental caries was 14.3%. This prevalence increased significantly with age (P < 0.0001) and with the reduction in family income (P < 0.0001). The results showed that the prevalence of dental caries and dental trauma was similar, and that both caused the same amount of damage to dental health for the target population.