Prevalence, Patterns and Pulp Vitality Testing of Traumatic Dental Injuries in Permanent Teeth: A Retrospective Study.

Abstract

Aim:

The purpose of this retrospective study is to determine the prevalence, patterns, and pulp vitality testing of traumatic dental injuries in primary and permanent teeth.

Material and methods:

From January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022, the dental records of 102 patients who presented with dento-alveolar trauma to the Postgraduate Dental Clinic at Saveetha Dental College and Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Data on age, gender, location of trauma [maxillary or mandibular (central, lateral, canine)], type of trauma (Ellis and Davey classification), cause of TDI (falls or collisions), location of the traumatic incident (home, school, road traffic accidents) and type of pulp vitality test performed (heat test, cold test, EPT, any other) were recorded. Descriptive analysis was performed for the frequency distribution and the chi-square test was used for bivariate analysis.  The Level of significance was p<0.05.

Results: The mean age of the children was 8.70±3.49 years. There were 169 anterior traumatized teeth (central incisor, lateral incisor, and canine). Children suffered trauma more often between the ages of 8 and 9 and between 11 years. Boys had experienced higher trauma than girls. Most TDI that occurred were permanent (91%). The most frequent injury types were luxation injuries in the primary dentition and Ellis class II injuries in the permanent dentition. The most common pulp tests performed are electric pulp tests.

Conclusions: Boys experienced a high level of traumatic dental injuries than girls. Primary teeth were less affected than permanent teeth, while children in the age range of 8, 9, and 11 experienced the most injuries in the studied group.