Traumatic dental injuries in preschoolchildren from Santo Domingo

The purpose of this retrospective study was to analyze, by age and sex, 1) the prevalence of traumatic injuries to primary incisors and canines, and 2) their distribution according to type in preschoolchildren 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 800 children aged 3-5 years enrolled in 24 public and private preschools. The prevalence of injuries was 35% (32.8 in boys and 37.2 in girls). The largest number of injuries was presented by the 5-year-old children. More girls suffered traumatic injuries than boys (not significantly) with a boy-to-girl ratio of 0.9:1. Combining both sexes, the most common type of injury was the enamel-dentin fracture (32.6%), followed by enamel fracture (31.2%) and concussion (23.5%).