Patterns and predictors of dental hospitalizations in patients with acquired brain injury from pre-injury to acute and post-acute injury.

BACKGROUND: Acquired brain injury (ABI) can cause long-term disability and functional impairment. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the prevalence of dental hospitalizations in an ABI cohort across different phases of injury and identify factors associated with such hospitalizations. METHODS: The cohort comprises patients with ABI (n = 683), traumatic (n = 282) and non-traumatic (n = 401) who were admitted to a neurorehabilitation service in Western Australia between 1991 and 2016. De-identified patient data were linked to the Hospital Morbidity Data Collection. The incidence of dental hospitalizations was calculated per 1,000 person-years (PY), and associated factors were investigated using multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression. RESULTS: Dental hospitalizations significantly increased from pre-injury (3.35/1,000PY) to acute injury (302.65, Delta+299.3) and remained elevated in the post-acute phase (23.98, Delta+20.63). Dental caries had the highest incidence rate among all diagnoses in the pre-injury and post-acute phases (0.68 and 8.93, respectively), followed by gingivitis and periodontal diseases (3.60) in the post-acute phase. Tooth extractions were performed more often than restorative and preventive treatment in the pre-and post-injury phase, p < 0.001. Dental hospitalizations were associated with the type of ABI, age at injury, remoteness, and history of pre-injury hospitalization. CONCLUSION: Implementing comprehensive preventive dental care can reduce potentially preventable dental hospitalization among ABI patients.