Prevalence, Etiology and Treatment Needs of Traumatic Dental Injuries in Schoolchildren aged 12 years at Brasília, Brazil

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of dental trauma, its causes, sites and age at the occurrence of injuries and treatment needs related to dental trauma in schoolchildren aged 12 years at Brasília, DF, Brazil. Material and Methods: A crosssectional, population-based study was conducted on a sample of 1,389 schoolchildren of public and private schools. Two questionnaires were used: one targeted to parents/legal caretakers and the other responded by the schoolchildren. The criteria for classification of trauma used in the Children's Dental Survey in the United Kingdom were adopted. The examinations were performed by two trained and calibrated examiners (inter and intra-examiner kappa: 0.85 to 1.00). The association between dental trauma and the study variables was evaluated by the chi-square test. Results: A total of 1,445 students were examined, with a response rate of 80.48%. Prevalence of 14.63% (public schools) and 23.40% (private schools) of dental trauma was found. The most common cause of dental trauma was fall (7.87%), followed by collision with objects or persons (5.03%), inadequate use of the teeth (2.33%), sports accidents (2.11%) and car accidents (0.66%). It was observed that 256 students presented injury to at least one tooth, with predominance of enamel fracture (88.67%) followed by discoloration (5.47%), enamel and dentin fracture (3.90%) and tooth loss (1.95 %). The teeth most affected by trauma were the maxillary central incisors. The accidents occurred predominantly at home (44.25%) and at the school (26.99%). Only 28.51% had received treatment for the injuries. Conclusion: Dental trauma in the study population was significant, presenting diverse etiology and expressive treatment needs, indicating the importance of preventive programs to inform the population on the possible complications after trauma, as well as the need to follow-up traumatized teeth to avoid subsequent problems.

Changes in the aetiological factors of dental trauma in children over time: An 18‐year retrospective study

“…Violence-related trauma, which made up 1.9% of injuries in this study, has also been observed more frequently among children in the same age group. Similar results were obtained by Frujeri et al 33 Trauma related to these aetiological factors has been reported with higher ratios in children of the ages 10-17 years (12.26%) and 8-12 years (9.3%). 16,17 It is thought that factors such as the large number of children in countries, lack of education and TA B L E 6 Distribution of dental trauma causes according to gender insufficient areas where children can use up their excess energy may cause an increase in the number of trauma cases.…”

“…This study also showed that injuries due to football, motorcycle accident and violence are more common with increasing age, and a statistically significant relationship was determined between age group and aetiological factor. However, there are studies in the literature that have contradicting results …”

“…Multiple dental injuries, including supportive bone and soft tissue injuries, caused by road traffic accidents make up 1.8%‐5% of the traumatic injuries . These were observed more frequently in children in the 7‐ to 18‐year age group, and made up 2.5% of the trauma cases.…”

“…However, there are studies in the literature that have contradicting results. 33 Aetiological factors may vary among countries. It has been observed that sports accident-related trauma, which makes up 13%-39% of traumatic injuries, 20,34 is ranked number one among aetiological factors for children in Spain between the ages of 6 and 18 years.…”

“…Multiple dental injuries, including supportive bone and soft tissue injuries, caused by road traffic accidents make up 1.8%-5% of the traumatic injuries. 12,27,33,[37][38][39] These were observed more frequently in children in the 7-to 18-year age group, and made up 2.5% of the trauma cases. Violence-related trauma, which made up 1.9% of injuries in this study, has also been observed more frequently among children in the same age group.…”