Prevalence of dental trauma in disabled persons seen at the dental clinic for special-needs patients of the Catholic University of Brasília (UCB)

Abstract

Abstract Introduction In Brazil, dental trauma (DT) is considered a public health problem. However, few studies in the literature report the prevalence of DT in disabled persons (DP). Objective The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of DT among DP seen at the Dental Clinic for Special-Needs Patients (COPE) of the Catholic University of Brasília. Material and method A retrospective, descriptive study analyzing 73 medical charts of DP seen at the COPE between 2014 and 2016 was conducted. Clinical and sociodemographic data were collected. The t-test was used to check for significant differences between the categories of the variables analyzed. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 23.0 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA) was used for all statistical analyses (p < 0.05). Result A DT prevalence of 33/73 (45.2%) was found among DP. The predominant type of fracture was crown fracture (26/33-78.8%). The majority of patients were over 20 years old (63/73 - 86.3%), at a proportion significantly higher than those for the other age categories (p < 0.008). The patients in the sample had a variety of diseases, predominantly in the following categories: mental (22/73- 30.1%), multiple (19/73-26%), and systemic (14/73-19.2%). Conclusion A high prevalence of DT was found in DP, with the majority of cases being related to mental and multiple diseases. Further research is needed to assess the prevalence of DT in this patient group throughout the Federal District.