Traumatic dental injuries in children from private and public schools

The purpose of this retrospective study was to analyze, by age and sex, the prevalence of traumatic injuries to permanent incisors and canines, and their distribution according to type in children from private and public schools. The samples consisted of 1,200 children aged 7-16 yr old enrolled in 12 private and public schools from the city of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Garcia-Godoy's classification for traumatic injuries was used. The prevalence of injuries in private schools was 21.3% and in public schools 16.3% (P less than 0.05). The higher prevalence in private schools is mainly due to the enamel fractures. All together, more boys injured their teeth than girls. The most common type of injury in both sexes in private and public schools was the enamel fracture followed by the enamel-dentin fracture without pulp exposure.