Traumatic dental injuries in a sample of Dominican schoolchildren

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Abstract
The prevalence of traumatic injuries to permanent incisors and canines, their distribution according to type, etiology, place of occurrence and location of trauma were analyzed, in a population sample of schoolchildren from the Dominican Republic, located in the Caribbean Archipelago. The sample consisted of 596 children aged 7-14 yr enrolled in 21 public and private schools from the city of San Pedro de Macoris, in the southeastern part of the country. This sample represents 10.8% of the schoolchildren of the city. The prevalence of injuries was 18.1% (17.4% in boys and 18.8% in girls). The largest number of injuries was found in the 14-yr-old children followed by the 12-yr-olds. Girls had a larger number of actual teeth injured than boys (P < 0.05). The most common type of injury in both sexes was the enamel fracture (51.1%) followed by concussions (25.6%). More girls suffered concussions than boys (P < 0.05). The most common cause of injury in both sexes was falling against an object (60.0% in boys and 42.6% in girls). The most frequent place of occurrence of trauma, in both sexes, was at home (34.1%), followed by outside of home (19.3%) and at school (12.5%). The teeth most commonly injured were the maxillary central incisors (63.9%). Girls presented significantly more mandibular lateral incisors injured than boys (P < 0.02).

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