Traumatic dental injury in permanent teeth of young patients attended at the federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Background/aim: Risk factors for dental trauma, such as gender and age, have not been studied in much detail in the past. So, this study was to determine the frequency of Traumatic dental injuries (TDI) and the association of gender and age with the different types of injuries in permanent teeth of patients treated at the Dental Trauma Surveillance Center, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Material and methods: Data from records of 1022 patients were evaluated, and patients with TDI in permanent teeth were included and descriptively analyzed. The Chi-squared test and logistic regression were also used (P ≤ 0.05).

Results: A total of 352 (34.4%) records from patients (mean age 9.29 ± 1.97) with 676 affected permanent teeth were included in the final sample. Children (55.7%) have a higher frequency of TDI than adolescents (42.9%). Falls (54.3%) was the most common cause, and the street (37.5%) was the most frequent place of occurrence. Enamel and dentin fracture without pulp exposure (69.2%) was the most common TDI for both genders (P = 0.16). Avulsion (29.2%) was the most frequent injury to supportive tissues for both genders; however, this was more numerous in girls (P < 0.001). Intrusive luxation was more common in boys (P = 0.01). According to logistic regression, intrusive luxation affects girls less (OR = 0.394; IC = 0.178-0.875) than boys, while girls have more chance of suffering from avulsion (OR = 1.912; IC = 1.197-3.055) and avulsion was less frequent in children (OR = 0.588; IC = 0.373-0.928).

Conclusions: Enamel and dentin fractures without pulp exposure and avulsion were the most common TDI. Gender (female) and age (adolescent) were considered risk factors for the occurrence of avulsion. However, male gender was a risk factor for the occurrence of intrusive luxation. So public health policies and educational programs aimed at prevention need to be developed, and the differences among groups should be respected.