Traumatic dental injuries in schoolchildren from Santo Domingo

The purpose of this retrospective study was to analyze, by age and sex, 1) the prevalence of traumatic injuries to permanent incisors and canines, and 2) their distribution according to type in schoolchildren from the city of Santo Domingo, in the Southern part of the Dominican Republic, which is located in the Caribbean Archipelago. The sample consisted of 1200 children aged 6-17 yr enrolled in eight public and private schools. Garcia-Godoy's classification for traumatic injuries was used. The prevalence of injuries was 12.2% (13.1% in boys and 11.2% in girls). The largest number of injuries was presented by the 14-yr-old children (17.4%) followed by the 13- and 12-yr-olds (15.7% and 11.7%, respectively). More boys injured their teeth than girls (not significantly) with a boy-to-girl ratio of 1.1:1. The most common type of injury in both sexes was enamel-dentin fracture, followed by enamel fracture.