Prevalence of mandibular trauma leading to fracture in Eastern India: A retrospective study

Mandibular fractures pose a major public health burden because their prevalence, anatomical patterns and causes vary significantly across populations, complicating prevention and treatment planning. Therefore, it is of interest to analyze 1,500 radiographically and clinically confirmed mandibular fractures identified from 3,600 outpatient records (2019-2023) at R. Ahmed Dental College and Hospital, Kolkata, after excluding incomplete and pathological cases. Demographic data, etiology, fracture site distribution and fracture multiplicity were recorded and evaluated independently by two examiners using descriptive statistics and chi square tests at a 5% significance level. Young adult males, especially in the 21-30 year age group, were most frequently affected, with road traffic accidents as the leading cause and parasymphysis and condyle emerging as the predominant fracture sites, mostly as single site fractures. Thus, we document parasymphysis fractures in young men secondary to traffic accidents as the dominant pattern in this setting, underscoring the need for targeted road safety policies and maxillofacial trauma prevention strategies.