Introduction: Comprehensive epidemiological data regarding factors associated with traumatic dental injuries are scarce.
Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess the frequency and analyze the factors associated with traumatic dental injuries in Serbian children.
Methods: Research included children and adolescents with traumatic dental injury aged 0-19 year during the period from 2003 to 2010, in four University Dental Centres in Serbia: Belgrade, Nis, Novi Sad and Kragujevac. Patient history, demographic, clinical and radiographic data were obtained from dental trauma forms.
Results: Total of 2,194 patients (748 girls, 1,446 boys) (chi2 = 222.1; p < 0.01) with 3,077 injured teeth in permanent and 953 in primary dentition were observed. Most of patients were aged 7 to 12 years (n = 1,191). The most frequent injuries in primary and permanent dentition were dislocations (87.4%) and teeth fractures (50.8%), respectively (chi2 = 706.1; p < 0.01). The most frequent mechanism of injury was fall in children aged 0 to 12 years, while the collisions were most frequent in adolescents (53.9%). The most frequent injuries in adolescents were inflicted outdoor (66.8%), while the injuries in children aged 0 to 3 years occurred at home (68.2%), (chi2 = 360.8; p < 0.01). The most frequent injuries in girls were accidental (48.3%), and in boys these were sport injuries (20.4%) and violence (10.4%) (chi2 = 79.9; p < 0.01). The most frequent cause of injury in children aged 0 to 3 years was accidental (75.6%), while in adolescents it was sport (34.1%) (chi2 = 1102.7; p < 0.01).
Conclusion: Dental injuries in preschool children most frequently resulted from fall at home. Schoolchildren most frequently injured teeth outdoor during play. Violence and sport injuries were most frequent cause of injury in adolescents.