Traumatic dental injuries in Brazilian pre-school children

The purpose of this investigation was to estimate the prevalence of traumatic dental injuries in a sample of Brazilian pre-school children with limited access to dental care. The sample included 1,853 one-to-five-year-old children attending public nursery schools in the Federal District of Brazil. Dental injuries were clinically assessed as follows: 1) uncomplicated crown fracture, 2) complicated fracture, 3) crown discoloration, 4) intrusive luxation, 5) extrusive luxation, 6) exarticulation or extraction after trauma and 7) subluxation. The results showed that 10% (< 2 years), 12% (3-4 years) and 20% (5 years) of the children had suffered at least one type of injury clinically identified at the time of the examination. Boys and girls were similarly affected. Dental injuries were almost entirely restricted to the maxillary central incisors (88%). Single tooth injury was predominant in all age groups. In the youngest group the most common types of injuries were crown fracture (69%) and crown discoloration (18%). However, from the age of three, crown discoloration showed percentages ranging from 41% to 47%. Prematurely lost tooth accounted for 11% of the injuries in 5-year-old children. The observed increase of dental injuries with age indicates accumulated treatment needs due to the children's limited access to dental care.