Activities related to the occurrence of traumatic dental injuries in 15- to 18-year-olds.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the activities related to the occurrence of traumatic dental injuries (TDI) in order to establish the relationship between gender, socio-economic status (SES) and major TDI related events, using classification and examination procedures suitable for epidemiological purposes, in a sample of 15- to 18-year-old students in Taiwan.


METHODS
A random sample of 6312 15- to 18-year-old senior high school students in southern Taiwan was selected. Each was examined with standard clinical procedures and a questionnaire.


RESULTS
The prevalence of TDI was 19.9%. The major TDI related events included sports and leisure activities (30.8%), eating (20.5%), falls (19.4%), traffic accidents (10.2%) and collisions (7.1%). Within TDI victims, sports and leisure related TDI were more prevalent among males (P = 0.001, OR = 1.640, 95% CI = 1.225, 2.195) and high SES adolescents (P = 0.014, OR = 1.991, 95% CI = 1.149, 3.449). The occurrence of non-accidental TDI was not related to age, gender and SES (P > or = 0.643).


CONCLUSIONS
Traumatic dental injuries have become an important issue in public health and dentistry. Prevention and treatment of TDI should be emphasised to the public, the health professional and the policy maker. Future investigations into the relationship between TDI related events and their determinants are indicated.
Huang
Boyen
B
School of Dentistry, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia. boyen.huang@uwa.edu.au
Marcenes
Wagner
W
Croucher
Ray
R
Hector
Mark
M
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D018677:Tooth Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*