title: Prevalence of dental trauma in individuals with special needs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Individuals with special needs exist throughout the world. The last demographic census (IBGE, 2002) in Brazil indicated that 14.5% of the total population (24.5 million) present some type of impairment. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of dental trauma (DT) in individuals with special needs and the first attendance by a dental surgeon of patients admitted to the special care clinic of the School of Dentistry of Universidade Paulista (UNIP), Brazil, between 2001 and 2005.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample included 544 individuals with special needs aged 1-20 years old (mean 10.7 ± SD 5.3). Patient medical records were reviewed for demographic and clinical data, including medical diagnosis, gender, age, presence of DT and whether the attendance provided was the first time the patient had sought dental treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The individuals were distributed into 11 subgroups according to medical diagnosis. The DT prevalence determined was 9.2% (n = 50), with no difference in relation to gender. The majority (78.3%) of the individuals were seeking dental treatment for the first time at an advanced age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present data suggest that DT prevalence in individuals presenting special needs is more common in permanent dentition and that the first attendance by a dental surgeon is delayed.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Dentistry, Persons with Disabilities Division, Universidade Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil. duarteferreira@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Maria Cristina Duarte
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Renata Oliveira
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Guare
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Prokopowitsch
authors.forename: Maria Teresa Botti Rodrigues
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Santos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003730:Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019986:Persons with Hearing Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018677:Tooth Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult