Mini Review - Journal of Clinical Dentistry and Oral Health (2020) Volume 4, Issue 2

Traumatic dental injury in school children

Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha Dental College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India

*Corresponding Author:

Bakhshish Singh
Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry
Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha Dental College
Punjab, India
E-mail: bakhshishbanga@gmail.com

Accepted date: July 25, 2020

Abstract

Keywords

Traumatic dental injury (TDI), tooth fracture, Dental Health Education.

Short Communication

TDIs generally occur at a young age during which growth and development takes place. In preschool children it accounts for as much as 18 percent of all injuries. Treating a TDI can often be complicated and expensive, frequently involving participation of specialists of several disciplines. In contrast to many other traumatic injuries being treated on an outpatient basis, a TDI is frequently irreversible and thus raising a possibility that treatment procedures are likely to continue for the rest of the patient’s life.

Moreover, it has been observed that there is perhaps no single disturbance that has greater psychological or emotional impact on both the parents and children than the loss or fracture to the anterior teeth of the child. An untreated and unsightly fracture of an anterior tooth can adversely affect the self esteem of a child, his progress in school, and can have deleterious impact on their daily living.

Unfortunately, our ability to prevent injuries to oral structure is limited. Living and growing carry a high risk of trauma. But on the brighter side, preventive measures that can reduce the prevalence of traumatic episodes can be planned out by carrying out cross- sectional studies. Periodic surveys are carried out to obtain health-related data from a random sample of the population. Data collected on demographic and personal characteristics, the prevalence of acute and chronic diseases, perceived health-care needs and the utilization of health care services form the basis of cross sectional surveys.

Most studies related to the epidemiology of traumatic dental injuries do not provide enough details of the causes of TDI to prioritize the factors that should be addressed, despite being a major public health problem worldwide. The present study set out to give more detailed vision into the factors and content associated with TDI in India. There is no information on prevalence of dental trauma in Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana. Therefore, the present study was performed with an aim to determine the prevalence of treated and untreated cases of anterior tooth trauma among 8-12 years old school children in Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana, Northern India and to find if any predilection exists for either of sex along with impact of Motivational interview (video+verbal) in mobilizing the patient for the treatment.

The analysis of available literature showed that prevalence of TDI varies significantly across the various populations, which may be a result of variability of criteria according to which dental trauma was being measured and a series of factors i.e. age range studied, behavioral & cultural diversity between countries and within countries, rural/urban population, trauma classifications employed, type of dentition, geographical and life style differences in the study population and the access to health services for evaluation and treatment purposes, all of which, individually or combined, makes data comparison a difficult task.

Educational programs containing information regarding the preventive & treatment aspects of traumatic dental injuries and importance of immediate attendance for dental treatment should be encouraged to the children, their parents and school teachers. The knowledge of dental practitioners should be improved through continuing dental education in order to minimize effects of traumatic dental injuries.