Epidemiology of traumatic dental injuries--a 12 year review of the literature.

BACKGROUND/AIM A traumatic dental injury (TDI) is a public dental health problem because of its frequency, occurrence at a young age, costs and that treatment may continue for the rest of the patient's life. The aim of this paper is to present a12-year, international review of the prevalence and incidence of TDIs including some background factors and a quick, easy method in registering TDIs to receive a primary understanding of the extent and severity of dental trauma. MATERIAL AND METHOD The databases of Medline, Cochrane, SSCI, SCI and CINAHL from 1995 to the present were used. RESULT The results indicate a high prevalence of TDIs in primary and permanent teeth and that TDIs exists throughout the world. The prevalence show that one third of all preschool children have suffered a TDI involving the primary dentition, one fourth of all school children and almost one third of adults have suffered a trauma to the permanent dentition, but variations exist both between and within countries. Activities of a person and the environment are probably more determining factors of TDIs than gender and age. A risk profile why some patients sustain multiple dental trauma episodes (MDTE) is necessary to present. All dental clinics should have a prospective ongoing registration of TDIs. The NUC method (N = no TDI, U = uncomplicated TDI, C = complicated TDI) presents if there has been any TDI and the severity of that trauma. CONCLUSION The trend of TDIs seems to be stable on a high level with variations largely reflecting local differences. Because of the complexity of TDIs, every dental clinic should have a prospective ongoing registration of number and severity of TDIs.