Dentists' role in treating facial injuries sustained in the 2008 earthquake in China: how dental professionals can contribute to emergency response.
BACKGROUND
A major earthquake struck Sichuan province, China, on May 12, 2008, and the authors were involved in the medical response to the disaster in Jiangyou City, an area hard-hit by the quake. In this article, they analyze data about the earthquake-related facial injuries and assess dentistry's role in treating them.


METHODS
This descriptive study included review of medical records for 4,582 patients with earthquake-related trauma at eight hospitals in Jiangyou, a city severely affected by the earthquake, for the day of the disaster and the 14 days immediately afterward.


RESULTS
Of the 4,582 patients, 408 (8.9 percent) sustained a total of 482 facial injuries. The dental team treated patients with facial injuries and others who needed care.


CONCLUSIONS
Facial injuries constitute a significant portion of earthquake-related trauma, and dentists therefore are an important part of the medical team that deals with such trauma. Dentists are a reliable force in the medical response to earthquakes and other disasters.


CONCLUSIONS
The dental team should play an important role in disaster response. Establishing oral and maxillofacial surgeon (OMS)/dentist reserves and active leagues that use OMSs' and general dentists' offices as bases can help improve disaster response.
Wang
Lei
L
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Stomatology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
Wei
Jian-hua
JH
He
Li-sheng
LS
Cao
Meng
M
Cao
Jian
J
Liu
Yan-pu
YP
Lei
De-lin
DL
Zhao
Yi-min
YM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D003815:Dentists; D004189:Disaster Planning; D004190:Disasters; D055866:Earthquakes; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005147:Facial Bones / Q000293:injuries; D005151:Facial Injuries / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005792:General Practice, Dental; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D007572:Jaw Fractures / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019647:Oral Surgical Procedures; D010348:Patient Care Team; D024382:Professional Role; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012887:Skull Fractures / Q000628:therapy; D017695:Soft Tissue Injuries / Q000628:therapy; D013515:Surgery, Oral; D018677:Tooth Injuries / Q000628:therapy