title: Parents' ability to recall past injuries to maxillary primary incisors in their children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the ability of parents to recall past injuries to their children's maxillary primary incisors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical and radiographic trauma-related major and minor signs observed in the first dental visit of 727 preschool children were recorded. Major signs included crown fracture, coronal discoloration, internal resorption, pulp canal obliteration, swelling, fistula, and periapical lesion. Minor signs included enamel cracks, sensitivity to percussion, dull or metallic sound on percussion, increased mobility, and widened periodontal ligament. Children were divided into groups: CT = certainly traumatized (presenting with at least one major sign or a combination of three minor signs), PT = probably traumatized (presenting with one or two minor signs) and NT = not traumatized. Accompanying parents were asked to recall past injuries to their children's teeth. Possible replies were 'no', 'yes' and 'probably yes'. Disagreement when both parents were present was recorded as 'yes'. Crown fractures involving dentin, coronal discoloration, swelling and fistula were defined as 'observable signs of trauma'.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One-hundred and eighteen children were accompanied by fathers, 411 by mothers and 198 by both. The CT group comprised 464 children; the PT group, 103; and the NT group, 160, with no statistically significant differences by gender. Parents' positive recall was similar for boys (33.3%) and girls (31.0%). Mothers recalled trauma in 32.6% and fathers in 27.1% of their children. Parents failed to recall trauma in 52.6% of the CT-group children and in 43.5% of the PT-group children. Parents failed to recall trauma in 37.6% of the children who had observable signs of trauma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parents' recall of dental trauma occurring in their children's maxillary primary incisors was reliable in <50% of the cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, The Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Kineret
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sheinvald-Shusterman
authors.forename: Gideon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Holan
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*; D008297:Male; D008437:Maxilla / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*; D011939:Mental Recall; D010290:Parents; D011859:Radiography; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018677:Tooth Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*