Prevalence of dental trauma and its related factors in patients referring to Shiraz dental school during 2008 to 2012

Epidemiological considerations indicate the importance of prevention، diagnosis and treatment planning. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of different types of traumatic dental injuries (TDI) and their etiology in patients referred to Shiraz Dental School in order to find a reliable preventive pattern for TDI. This descriptive‒analytical study examined the files of 314 patients، who referred to Shiraz Dental School (2008‒2012)، with 554 traumatized teeth. The variables investigated included age، sex، type of the involved tooth، type of TDI، place of occurrence، reason for injury and intervals between injuries and the time of referral to Shiraz Dental School. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were used for statistical analysis and comparison of TDIs based on demographic data using SPSS 16 (α=0. 05). Of all the patients، men and women accounted for 65. 9% and 34. 1%، respectively. The mean age was 17. 37 years. In average، the number of traumatized teeth in all the files was more than 1 tooth. The most frequent traumatized teeth were permanent maxillary first incisors (64. 4%). Falls were the most frequently cited etiological factors in TDI (33. 7%)، followed by car accidents (25. 2%) and complicated crown fracture was the most common TDI (20. 2%); 64. 9% of patients had referred to Shiraz Dental School less than one month after trauma. No significant differences were observed between males and females in the frequency and mean age of the trauma types (p value > 0. 005). Based on the results of the present study، falls (33. 8%) and car accidents (25. 2%) were the most frequent etiologic factors for TDI، respectively، with the streets as the most frequent place of accidents (44. 9%).