Epidemiologic study of dental trauma in patients presenting to the dental clinic of School of Dentistry of Tehran University of Medical Sciences during 2011-2018.

Background:Epidemiologic knowledge can signify the importance of prevention, diagnosis and treatment planning. This study aimed to assess the frequency of dental trauma, type of injury, type of treatment performed and time of admission of dental trauma patients presenting to the School of Dentistry of Tehran University of Medical Sciences during 2011-2018.   Materials and methods: In this retrospective, descriptive study, pediatric dentistry postgraduate students evaluated the charts of patients admitted to the dental clinic of School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences during 2011-2018 due to dental trauma. Age and sex of patients, type of traumatized tooth, cause of injury, type of injury, time interval between the trauma and visit and type of treatment performed were all recorded. Descriptive data were reported as frequency and percentage. Different types of dental injuries were compared using SPSS version 22.   Results:Of 165 injured patients, 63.03% were males and 43.03% were between 8-9 years of age. The prevalence of trauma to the maxilla and mandible was 90.02% and 9.96%, respectively. The maxillary central incisors had the highest frequency of trauma (72.09%). Slips and falls were the most common causes of trauma (73.93%) while sport injuries were the least common (6.06%). In terms of type of trauma to the teeth, intrusion was the most common and crown and root fracture were the least common in primary dentition while tooth crown fracture was the most common and extrusion was the least common in permanent teeth. Of injured patients, 3.03% sought treatment in less than 4 hours and 6.66% between 6-12 months after injury. Treatments included simple tooth restoration (27.6%), splinting (11.6%), pulpectomy/root canal treatment (12%), pulp-capping (1.2%) and replantation (2%).   Conclusion:Traumatic injuries are common in children and adolescents. The current results showed that age and gender were among the predisposing factors to dental injuries. Maxillary central incisors were the most commonly traumatized teeth. Tooth crown fracture was the most common injury in permanent teeth while intrusion was the most common injury in primary teeth. Slips and falls were the most common causes of dental trauma. Composite restoration was the most common and pulpectomy was the least common treatment. Patients mainly presented within 4 to 24 hours after injury. Those presenting 6-12 months later had the lowest frequency.