Profiles of Trauma in Primary and Permanent Teeth of Children and Adolescents

Abstract

This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the dental trauma profile in primary and permanent teeth from patients between 0 and 15 years old who attended the Faculty of Dentistry of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Data regarding gender, age, trauma classification, tooth type, and affected tissues were obtained from dental records. The data were analyzed descriptively and by the χ2 test (p < 0.05). Data associated with 333 traumatized teeth (70% primary and 30% permanent teeth) were included. The mean ages of children with affected primary and permanent teeth were 3.35 ± 2.02 and 9.09 ± 2.43 years, respectively. Males presented more permanent teeth with trauma (64.4%) than primary ones (55.6%; p = 0.085). The upper central incisors, both primary (68.9%) and permanent (69.4%), were the teeth most commonly affected. Primary teeth showed a higher frequency (p < 0.001) of supportive tissue trauma (73.3%) and lower frequency (p = 0.001) of hard tissue trauma (40.7%) than those in permanent ones (51.5% and 60.6%, respectively). The most frequent trauma in the supportive tissue was subluxation (27.2%) and permanent lateral luxation (42.0%). In the hard tissues, permanent teeth presented a higher prevalence of trauma than primary ones (p = 0.001), however this difference was not statistical significant when each type of fracture injury was evaluated individually (p > 0.005). With affected primary teeth, there was a greater frequency of trauma in the gingival mucosa (31.0%; p = 0.022); in the permanent ones, traumatic lesions in the chin region were the most prevalent (20.8%; p = 0.009). Trauma was recurrent in 26.3% of primary teeth and in 20.2% permanent teeth. Therefore, primary and permanent teeth showed distinct trauma profiles, suggesting that distinct preventive and therapeutic approaches are needed for these two groups.