Prevalence And Severity Of Traumatic Dental Injuries In a Pediatric Dental Urgency Clinic

GERALDINO, R.A.; BARBOSA C DE S; DA-SILVA C.Q; ALMEIDA J.C.F.

PRIVATE PRACTICE - CABI; UNIVERSITY OF BRASILIA; UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL OF BRASILIA - UNB

Objectives

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalency and severity of Traumatic Dental Injuries (TDI) in the anterior primary teeth of children younger than 7 years and the relevancy of the time elapsed until the first examination for the accurate diagnostic.

Methods

Dental records of 295 children assisted in a private pediatric dental urgency clinic were evaluated, from April 2003 to June 2012. Five calibrate examiners performed the clinical examinations and recorded the type of injury and clinical predisposing factors such as: age, gender, place of occurrence, main etiologic factor and time elapsed since the trauma until the first examination. Frequency distribution and chi square test was used to data analysis.

Results

The results showed a higher prevalence of TDI in 3-year-old children (21.0%). Male children (58.0%) were more likely to present TDI, whereas female children (42.%) were less likely to experience TDI. The most affected teeth were the maxillary central incisors (71.9%), followed by the maxillary lateral incisors (18.8%). Subluxation (52.0%); lateral luxation (14.0%); Uncomplicated crown fracture (13.0%); avulsion (6.0%) were the most prevalent TDI. Home (44.7%) was the main place of occurrence, followed by school (44.4%). The main etiologic factors involved in TDI were falls (55.5%), followed by colisions (17.6%) and traffic accidents (0.6%). The first examination occurred in the first 2h in (52.5%) of the cases and it was statistically associated with subluxation diagnostic (p=0.038)

Conclusions

•The prevalence and severity of TDI in these children younger than 7 year subpopulation is compared to the prevalence reported in dental literature.

•The time elapsed until the first examination is crucial for the accurate diagnostic of subluxation.