Epidemiology of dental trauma: A review of the literature

Abstract

This article reviews recent reports describing the aetiology of dental trauma from national and international studies as well as the different classifications currently used to report dental injuries. It also discusses possible preventive measures to reduce the increasing frequency of dental trauma. Reported studies demonstrate that males tend to experience more dental trauma in the permanent dentition than females, however, there does not appear to be a difference between the sexes in the primary dentition. Accidents within and around the home were the major sources of injury to the primary dentition, while accidents at home and school accounted for most of the injuries to the permanent dentition. The most frequent type of injury was a simple crown fracture of the maxillary central incisors in the permanent dentition while injuries to the periodontal tissues were more common in the primary dentition. When preventive measures are being planned, knowledge of aetiology is important. More prospective studies from representative populations are required to understand the complexities of dental trauma epidemiology and to allow implementation of preventive strategies to reduce the increasing frequency of dental trauma.

Dental Injuries in Association With Facial Fractures

“…This finding is in accordance with reports from different authors who found high frequencies of crown fractures in falls and collisions. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Avulsions were mostly observed in the maxilla, as found in other studies. [17][18][19][20][21][22] Lateral dislocations were found in the anterior segments of both jaws.…”

Socioeconomic and clinical factors associated with traumatic dental injuries in Brazilian preschool children

“…There is a lack of consensus on an appropriate definition and classification of dental trauma. [24][25] We used the O'Brien 15 criterion, which has been employed in previous Brazilian studies. [26][27][28] Thus, it allowed for proper comparisons.…”

Predominant Causes and Types of Orofacial Injury in Children Attending Emergency Department

“…Most of the orofacial trauma data available in the literature has been collected retrospectively from cross-sectional studies or from longitudi- nal studies of patient records. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] In the current study, the assessment of standardized trauma records with information collected at the time of assistance enables the authors to obtain more reliable data relative to previous retrospective studies in which injuries were only registered if signs and/or symptoms were evident at the time of examination.…”

“…The great variation may be due to a number of different factors such as the trauma classification, and geographical and behavioral differences between study locations and countries. [7] This study evaluated orofacial trauma and injuryassociated factors in children who visited an emergency department. A total of 1296 children in 12055 patients with orofacial trauma from 0 to 18 years of age were evaluated.…”

“…[7][8][9][10][11][12] Determining the incidence of a particular event requires information on the number of new cases in a specified time period divided by the number of persons exposed to the risk during this period. [7] The prevalence of orofacial trauma in various epidemiological studies has also been found to differ considerably. The great variation may be due to a number of different factors such as the trauma classification, and geographical and behavioral differences between study locations and countries.…”