Risk factors for traumatic dental injuries in an adolescent male population in India

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of traumatic injuries to the anterior teeth and evaluate the role of anatomic risk factors in the occurrence of such injuries in a group with an assumed behavior predisposing them to trauma.

The study population consisted of 370 male enrollees of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in India. Risk factors such as the socioeconomic status (SES) of parents, lip coverage, incisor overjet, and the cause and nature of trauma to anterior teeth were recorded. The Chi-square test was used for testing the association between these factors. Increasing overjet was further analyzed using chi-square for linear trends. Variables found significant were subjected to logistic regression.

A prevalence of 14.9% of traumatic injuries to anterior teeth was found in the study population with sports activities being the most common cause. Permanent maxillary central incisors were most commonly injured with injuries involving enamel and dentin being the most frequently observed. Increased overjet and inadequate lip coverage were significantly associated with the occurrence of trauma. With an odds ratio of 7.2 inadequate lip coverage was identified, using binary logistic regression, as the single most independent risk factor for the occurrence of traumatic injury to the maxillary anterior teeth.