137 - Current Trends in Traumatic Dental Injury Incidence

Title: Current Trends in Traumatic Dental Injury Incidence

Authors: Ho P, Quackenbush J, Cardenas A, Bona G, Kirkpatrick T, Chiquet B

Purpose: The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the trends of incidence in traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) in the pediatric population at a Level I trauma hospital.

Methods: Children, 0-15 years old, presenting to Memorial Hermann Hospital Pediatric Emergency Department from 2015-2022 were evaluated for trends in different parameters (age, date, time of year, teeth affected, etiology, type, cause of injury) associated with their dental trauma. Data was extracted from the hospital trauma database. Chi-square and fisher exact test were used to analyze data; p-values less than 0.05 considered significant.
 

Results: Of 179 unique cases evaluated, 381 TDIs were found. The incidence of TDIs in males to females was 1.2:1 respectively. The presence of alveolar/jaw fractures were associated with Summer and Spring, position of the TDI in the mouth, older age group. Males had a higher risk of sustaining a TDI from sports, bikes and assault. Falls were the most common mechanism of injury. Luxations were associated with the primary dentition. A paucity of information from the medical trauma database was identified (missing encounters, non-informative ICD-10 codes, missing tooth numbers or diagnoses).
 

Conclusions: Current trends in TDIs are useful for practitioners to incorporate into anticipatory guidance to implement prevention strategies to decrease the incidence of TDIs. Additional interprofessional collaborations with emergency medical services are required to improve diagnostic documentation and elucidate TDI epidemiology.