Treatment delays in paediatric dento‐alveolar trauma at a tertiary referral hospital

Abstract

Background: Paediatric dento-alveolar trauma is a common event. Delays in treatment can have adverse effects on long term outcomes and the aim of this study was to quantify the treatment delays in paediatric dento-alveolar trauma in a tertiary referral hospital. Methods: All cases of paediatric dento-alveolar trauma over a two year period from July 2000 to June 2002 were identified and the charts were reviewed retrospectively. All children presenting to the emergency department with dento-alveolar trauma within 48 hours of injury during the time period were included. Results: Forty-three patients were identified. The average age was 5.51 years, though there was a bias towards one and two year olds. Males were injured 1.5 times more frequently than females. There was an average delay of 9.6 hours between injury and treatment for all patients. Transit time from outside practitioners to hospital and waiting times in hospital made up the greatest delays. Children injured an average of 2.37 teeth and only 14 per cent were uncomplicated crown fractures. Conclusions: Children who present to children's hospitals for treatment of dento-alveolar trauma have more severe injuries than those treated elsewhere. They have large but potentially reducible delays between injury and treatment.

Tooth loss and survival analysis after traumatic injuries in primary dentition

“…In addition, there is a report that children who had trauma of soft tissues and luxations were brought to dental clinics faster and more frequently than children with fractures, because of bleeding tendency and interference with occlusion and chewing 31 . Our findings are in agreement with the observation that children who present to tertiary referral institutions for dental trauma treatment have more severe injuries than those treated elsewhere and that there is a large but potentially reducible delay between moment of injury and treatment 30 .…”

“…Regarding the time elapsed from the injury to dental treatment, results of the present investigation show that almost 40% of the study population had been referred for treatment in a period exceeding 24 hours, and dental treatment had been provided within the subacute approach for the majority of patients. Delay in treatment can have adverse effects on long term outcomes in dental trauma 30 , as shown in the investigations conducted in tertiary referral hospitals. In addition, there is a report that children who had trauma of soft tissues and luxations were brought to dental clinics faster and more frequently than children with fractures, because of bleeding tendency and interference with occlusion and chewing 31 .…”

An investigation into dentists' perceptions of barriers to providing care of dental trauma to permanent maxillary incisors in children in Victoria, Australia

“…Dental injuries that cause pain to the patient should be considered urgent and treatment must be promptly provided to alleviate the discomfort. 5 Any hesitations that dentists might have in treating this type of patient merit investigating in order to develop ways to overcome this reluctance. 3 There is little published literature relating to possible barriers to treatment of dental trauma.…”

Factors associated with positive outcome of avulsion injuries in children

“…Similarly, Diaz et al 33 reported that only 3% of affected patients in their study were treated within 30 minutes and the most common form of storage was dry. Batstone et al 34 showed that only 5% of their patients received emergency treatment within three hours, including patients with immediate treatment needs. Similar results in the present study confirm the necessity of developing educational and prevention strategies.…”