Traumatic injuries of the permanent maxillory incisors at dental department, pakistan institute of medical sciences islamabad: A retrospective study

The study aims to ascertain the prevalence of traumatic dental injures of the maxillary permanent incisors at Dental Department, Pakistan Institute of Medical Science Islamabad during the years 2003-2005. Information concerning age, sex, cause, type of tooth number of injured teeth and patterns of tooth injury were recorded retrospectively from 33 patients aged between 8-40 years, comprising 498 traumatized teeth. The dental record of all the patients presenting with dental trauma were examined for collection of data relating to age, sex, cause, number of injured teeth, type of tooth and type of tooth trauma. Type of tooth trauma was recorded according to the Andreason classification. The data was subsequently processed and analyzed using the SPSS statistical software programme. The statistical significance level was set at 5%. Of the 336 patients, 227 were males (67.6%) and 109 were female (32.4%). The gender difference was statistically significant (p<0.0001). The patients had a total of 498 traumatized teeth. A large number of dental trauma occurred in patients aged between 9-11 years. Most injuries involved one tooth in 227 patients (67.6%). However two teeth in 90 patients (26.7%), three teeth in 11 patients (3.2%) and only in 8 patients (2.3%) four teeth were involved. Fractures in enamel only occurred in 74 teeth (14.6%). Uncomplicated crown fractures in 208 teeth (41.9%) were the most commonly encountered dental trauma. 137 teeth (27.6%) suffered complicated crown fractures, 44 teeth (8.9%) uncomplicated crown-root fractures, 19 teeth (3.8%) complicated crown-root fractures and avulsion in 16 teeth (3.2%) only. The main causes were falls in 225 patients (66.9%), collision with objects in 40 patients (11.9%), road traffic accident in 31 patients (9.2%) violence in 31 patients (6.2%), and sports in 19 patients (5.6%). The maxillary central incisor was traumatized in 384 teeth showing a high percentage of 77%. Raising public dental awareness regarding the serious outcome of traumatic dental injuries is mandatory to improve the prognosis of dental trauma and to avoid complications. (author)