Socioeconomic Status and Dental Injury Repetition in Children

Traumatic dental injuries (TDI) are widespread and represent a serious dental public health problem in childhood (1, 2). Injury results from a complex interaction of the child with her/his physical and social environment (3). The causes of dental injuries are complex and a range of psychosocial factors could be associated with increased risk for injury (35). The epidemiological model “host – agent – environment” has been recognized as the most suitable for injury studying (6). The “host” or an injured child can be analysed by her/his age, sex, development, and behavioural characteristics. The “agent” is defined as energy or an object that causes an injury. The “environment” includes not only the physical, but also the psychosocial environment in which all components are interacting in critical manner to cause the injury. Guyer and Gallagher (6) pointed out that progress in injury prevention could be accomplished by preventive acting at the any component of this model. Epidemiological studies show that about one third of preschool children and one fourth of all school children suffer some kind of TDI (4). All children are not equally affected by dental trauma. There is evidence that some children are at higher risk for injuries than others. Some patients Uvod