A retrospective evaluation of traumatic dental injury in children who applied to the dental hospital, Turkey.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to analyze traumatic dental injuries in children visiting the dental hospital emergency department in Samsun of Turkey, in the period from 2007 to 2011. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data of age, gender, causes of dental trauma, injured teeth, type of dental injuries, the application period, the dental treatments, and traumatic dental injuries according to the seasons were obtained from the records at dental hospital. RESULTS Of all 320 patients with traumatic dental injury, 205 were boys and 115 were girls with a boys/girls ratio 1.78:1. Traumatic dental injury was observed more frequently in the 7-12 age groups: 52.5% in girls and 67.8% in boys. Falls are the major cause of traumatic dental injury in the age group 6-12 (51.4%). Sport activities are a common cause of traumatic dental injury in the 7-12 age group (34.2%). Patients visited a dentist within approximately 2 h (57.1%). The upper anterior teeth were subjected to trauma more frequently than the lower anterior teeth. The maxillary central incisors were the most commonly affected teeth, and the mandibular canins were the least affected teeth. In primary teeth, avulsion was the most common type of dental injury (23%); on the other hand, enamel fractures were the most common type of dental injury (30.6%) observed in permanent teeth. In the primary dentition, the most commonly performed treatments were dental examination and prescribing (70%). The most common treatment choices in permanent teeth were restoration and dental examination (49.7 and 15.8%, respectively). CONCLUSION The results of the study show that the emergency intervention to traumatized teeth is important for good prognosis of teeth and oral tissues. Therefore, the parents should be informed about dental trauma in schools, and dental hospital physicians should be subjected to postgraduate training.