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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) are a serious dental health problem affecting adolescents and needs special attention.
OBJECTIVE: To determine and compare the prevalence of TDIs in children attending special needs schools and normal school children and identify the risk factors for its occurrence.
METHODS: The study included 150 special needs school children and 300 normal school children in the 12-15 year age group. A questionnaire was prepared that collected information on socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents like age, sex, and details of the injury-event. The clinical examination was carried out using American Dental Association (ADA) type 3 technique following universal precautions.
RESULTS: The children attending special needs schools showed higher prevalence of TDIs than normal school children. Maxillary central incisors were the most commonly affected teeth. A majority of them showed injuries restricted to enamel fracture only and the most common cause for injury was "falling over". Logistic regression analysis showed that there was a significantly higher tendency for special needs children, boys, children with an overjet more than 3 mm, and inadequate lip closure to develop injuries.
CONCLUSION: TDIs were more prevalent in children attending special needs schools. An overjet more than 3 mm emerged as the strongest risk predictor. Effective policies need to be drafted to treat the injuries and correct the malocclusion.
Language: en |