2023 Volume 61 Issue 1 Pages 24-34
Recently, the number of children with traumatic injuries to their teeth has increased compared to our department's survey of 30 years ago. To identify the trends in patients presenting with trauma to the oral-facial region and in the treatments being used for this trauma, we surveyed 227 patients under 15 who visited the pediatric outpatient dentistry clinic of the Kanagawa Dental University Hospital for the first time complaining of trauma from 2016 to 2018.
The following key points were identified :
1. Pediatric patients complaining of traumatic injuries to the oral-facial region made up 14.1% of the total number of first-time patients at the Kanagawa Dental University Hospital pediatric outpatient clinic. Those with deciduous tooth injuries were 0-3 years old, and those with permanent tooth injuries were 7-9 years old.
2. The most frequent injuries were dislocations of deciduous teeth, an almost equal number of dislocations and fractures of permanent teeth, and lacerations in soft tissue.
3. The progress of injured teeth showed that 17.7% of deciduous teeth and 18.5% of permanent teeth had sequelae of trauma (discoloration, pathological tooth movement, pathological root resorption, root apex penetration, and eruption disturbance to the succeeding permanent tooth were confirmed by oral examination and X-ray examination, and one of these sequelae was observed in the cases with any of the above symptoms). The sequelae of trauma were predominantly due to concussion in deciduous teeth and incomplete dislocation in permanent teeth.
The majority of cases were treated at the time of initial examination, with concussion treated by follow-up observation and incomplete dislocation treated by reduction fixation. The results of this study indicated that concussion of deciduous teeth requires follow-up until replacement with permanent teeth, and incomplete dislocation of permanent teeth requires follow-up for at least one year after injury. Therefore, it is important to inform dental professionals, parents, and those involved in childcare and education about the need for long-term follow-up after injury.
