Prevalence of Dental Trauma and Receipt of Its Treatment among Male School Children in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background. Dental trauma is a common dental public health problem, and it affects 20% to 30% of permanent dentition worldwide. Objective. To evaluate self-reported dental trauma to permanent anterior teeth and the receipt of dental treatment among male school children. Materials and Methods. This cross-sectional study included grade 7 to 9 school children in Dammam/Al-Khobar, the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The participants responded to a pilot-tested self-completion questionnaire which contained questions about experience, types, place, and reasons for dental trauma and the receipt of dental treatment. Bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed. Results. There were 258 students in the study with a mean age of 14.29 ± 1.11 years. Dental trauma was experienced by 39.5% of the participants. Tooth fracture (22.7%) was the most common type of dental trauma followed by tooth displacement (8.7%) and complete tooth removal (8%). The most common reason of dental trauma included fall (9.3%) and accidental hit by some objects (8.9). Home (19.8%), school (5%), and playground (4.2%) were reported as common places of dental trauma. Dental treatment was received by 20.5% of the samples. Most participants visited a dental clinic (10.8%) and used self-care at home (7.2%) after dental trauma. Nearly 4.7% of the participants received dental treatment immediately, 5% on the next day, and 2.7% after a month. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed a significant association of monthly family income (odds ratio = 0.44) with dental trauma (P=0.008). Conclusion. Dental trauma was highly prevalent among school children; however, few of them received care/dental treatment. Participants frequently experienced dental trauma due to a fall in their homes. Preventive measures should be taken to prevent dental trauma, reduce its burden, and improve quality of life.

Prevalence and Etiological Factors of Dental Trauma among 12- and 15-Year-Old Schoolchildren of Lebanon: A National Study

“…This result is comparable to different studies conducted in India [ 20 ], Brazil [ 21 ], Turkey [ 22 ], Canada [ 11 ], and Albania [ 23 ], on similar age groups. However, this proportion is higher than the 6.1% reported by Noori et al in Irak [ 24 ], the 6.4% reported by Naidoo et al in South Africa [ 25 ], and is interestingly lower than the 36% reported in Iran [ 26 ], 14.4% reported in India [ 27 ], the 37.9% reported in Chile [ 28 ], the 35.0% reported in Thailand [ 29 ] and the 39.5% reported in Saudi Arabia [ 30 ]. This wide divergence in the results could be attributed to many factors such as the study design, the inclusion/exclusion criteria, the sample size, the sampling procedure, the adopted diagnostic criteria, the chosen age groups, and the cultural and behavioral profile of each country.…”

Epidemiology of childhood injuries in Saudi Arabia: a scoping review

“…The number of patients included in oral and dental trauma studies was 2,454 (Table 5 ) [ 42 – 45 ]. There was a comparable proportion of males to females [ 43 , 44 ].…”

“…There was a comparable proportion of males to females [ 43 , 44 ]. While the other two were conducted solely in males [ 42 , 45 ]. Falls were the most common cause of dental injuries (62.7%) [ 43 , 44 ].…”

“…Falls were the most common cause of dental injuries (62.7%) [ 43 , 44 ]. More than one-third (39.5%) of middle school boys sustained oral injuries, while only half have received dental treatment [ 45 ]. The same study showed high family income to be associated with a lower likelihood of dental trauma (OR=0.44, P < 0.05) [ 45 ].…”

“… Western region - Jeddah 13 (Gupta et al, 2018) [ 44 ] 2016 Cross-sectional N=868 The prevalence of traumatic dental injury was 9.79% with fall being the most common cause (62.4%) Traumatic dental injuries were more common among male with a male female ratio of 1.6:1. Southern region - Jazan 13 (Al-Ansari & Nazir, 2020) [ 45 ] 2020 Cross-sectional N=258 Gender: male As per a self-reported questionnaire, 39.5% of middle school male children had experienced dental trauma whilst only 20.5% received treatment. Higher family income was associated with lower likelihood of dental trauma (OR: 0.44, P < 0.05) and lower odds of receiving treatment for dental trauma (OR: 0.41, P < 0.05).…”