Traumatic dental injuries in children. Experience of a hospital in the central Anatolia region of Turkey.

AIM: The purpose of this retrospective study was to identify traumatic dental injuries by using the documentations of children (range 0-14 years, average age: 10.79+/-2.06) with dental trauma who referred to Cumhuriyet University, Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Pedodontics, in Sivas, Turkey, between January 2007 and June 2012. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 591 children (356 boys and 235 girls) with 1,287 injured teeth (394 primary and 893 permanent teeth) were included in the study. The children were evaluated in terms of gender, age, number of injured teeth, type of trauma, the interval between the traumatic event and time of seeking, and treatment procedures. RESULTS: The highest frequency of trauma occurred in the 12-14 year age group (14%). The most common type of injury was enamel-dentin fractures (58%) in primary teeth and complicated crown fractures (39%) in permanent teeth. Falls (30%) were the major cause of dental injury. Direct restoration (27%) without any endodontic treatment was the most common treatment procedure for permanent teeth. The most frequent treatment for primary teeth was examination and follow-up (42%). The upper central incisors (71%) were the mostly affected teeth in both primary and permanent teeth. Most dental trauma occurred in June and July (12%-8%). Only 63 children (11%) were referred to the clinic less than 30 minutes after trauma. CONCLUSION: Traumatic dental injury is considered a serious public health problems especially in children; parents and teachers should be informed on prevention and emergency management of traumatic dental injuries. In addition, the findings showed that initial treatment after dental trauma should be as quick as possible.