A survey of tooth injury experience and attitudes to prevention in a group of Singapore schoolboys.
A survey of 246 boys aged 12-17 years (mean 13.8 years) determined the sports played, dental injury experience, knowledge and usage of and attitudes towards mouthguard wearing. Most played basketball and soccer. Twenty-one suffered 1 injury episode, 7-2 and 10-3 or more tooth injuries. Twenty-six subluxations, 19 fractures and 1 avulsion were reported. The sports with the highest prevalence of dental injury were boxing and wrestling (33%), soccer (20%), and basketball (19%). While 144 (56%) of boys knew about mouthguards, none wore one. Only 64 (25%) would wear a mouthguard if given one. Most dental injuries were minor, but four high-risk sports (> 19% injury prevalence) would justify preventive measures, including education for injury prevention and encouragement of mouthguard use.
Teo
C S
CS
Department of Preventive Dentistry, National University of Singapore.
Stokes
A N
AN
Loh
T
T
Bagramian
R A
RA
D000293:Adolescent; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002648:Child; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009064:Mouth Protectors; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D018677:Tooth Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*