Prevalence of traumatic dental injuries in children who attended two dental clinics in Targu Mures between 2003 and 2011.

AIMS: This retrospective study aimed to assess the prevalence of dental trauma in deciduous and permanent teeth among children and teenagers who attended two dental clinics in Targu Mures, Romania, between 2003 and 2011 and the correlation of their risk of dental trauma with factors, including gender, age, physical activities and extent of incisor overjet.

METHODS: The study population consisted of patients aged between 1 and 18 years who attended the Clinic of Paediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics and the Clinic of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Targu Mures, in the period between January 2003 and August 2011. Their records were reviewed and the following factors, relevant to dental trauma, were recorded: gender, age, type of dentition, injury aetiology, lesion type and location, number of teeth affected, occlusion, and radiography. For patients who attended the orthodontics clinic, the degree of overjet was also determined.

RESULTS: The overall prevalence of dental trauma was 24.5%. The frequency of traumatic injuries to deciduous teeth was approximately equal for boys and girls, and the most for those between 1 and 2 years. In the permanent dentition, a dental trauma was more frequently found boys, and the most affected age group was between 11 and 12 years, for both boys and girls. The most common causes were falls, in deciduous teeth especially during learning to walk, and in permanent teeth particularly during cycling or other sporting mishaps. The most frequent type of trauma found in the deciduous dentition was lateral luxation and in the permanent teeth it was fracture with the involvement of enamel and dentine, but without the exposure of the dental pulp. A positive relationship was noted between the presence of overjet associated with lip incompetence and the frequency of dental trauma.

CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of dental trauma in children and adolescents who attended the Clinic of Paediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics and the Clinic of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Targu Mures, was broadly similar to that found in other studies. More epidemiologic studies are needed to gain a more comprehensive overview of the prevalence of dental trauma in Romania.