Traumatic dental injuries: etiology, prevalence and possible outcomes.

OBJECTIVE . The aim was to overview the etiology, prevalence and possible outcomes of dental trauma. MATERIAL AND METHODS An electronic search of Medline (PubMed), Cochrane, SSCI (Social Citation Index), SCI (Science Citation Index) databases from 1995 to the present, using the following search words: tooth injuries, tooth trauma, traumatized teeth, dental trauma, dentoalveolar trauma, oral trauma, epidemiology, etiology, prevalence, prevention, pulp necrosis, inflammatory resorption, ankylosis, cervical resorption, was performed. RESULTS During last decade traumatic dental injuries were recognized as public dental health problem worldwide. Prevalence of traumatic dental injuries varies between countries. According to the existing data they are more prevalent in permanent than in primary dentition. All treatment procedures in case of dental trauma are directed to minimize undesired consequences despite that treatment of traumatic dental injuries in the young patient is often complicated and can continue during the rest of his/her life. The changing lifestyle and requirements of modern society lead to an emergence of new patterns of dental trauma. A regular update of knowledge in dental traumatology is required.