title: Dental trauma among Brazilian schoolchildren: prevalence, treatment and associated factors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the prevalence of traumatic dental injury (TDI), as well as associated factors, behaviour of affected schoolchildren and normative treatment needs.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present cross-sectional study involved 590 children aged 7-14 years at state schools in Campina Grande, Brazil. The O'Brien classification [1994] was used for the diagnosis of TDI and the body mass index (BMI) was used as an indicator of overweight/obesity. Clinical tests were carried out by two duly calibrated examiners (intra-observer and inter-observer agreement: 0.87 and 0.90, respectively). The Chi-square test was used (5% level of significance) to determine whether TDI was associated with age, gender, ethnicity, overweight/obesity, lip seal and overjet. Backward stepwise multivariate regression analysis was performed. Normative treatment needs were determined based on the criteria of the International Association of Dental Traumatology (IADT). When the absence of treatment was detected, each child/adolescent was asked about the reason for non-treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of TDI was 12.7%. The most common type of trauma was enamel fracture (67.0%), followed by enamel-dentine fracture (25.3%). TDI was 4.9-fold greater (95% CI: 1.6-14.4) among children aged 13 and 14 years, 1.9- fold greater (95% CI: 1.1-3.2) among males and 2.6-fold greater (95% CI: 1.2-5.4) among those with inadequate lip seal. The majority of schoolchildren did not undergo treatment (82.6%) due to a belief that it was unnecessary (53.2%). The normative clinical evaluation revealed that adhesive restoration was the most common form of treatment (84.0%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of TDI was low. Age, gender and inadequate lip seal were associated with dental trauma. A significant number of schoolchildren did not receive treatment for dental trauma.
authors.affiliation: Rua Capitão João Alves de Lira, Campina Grande, Brazil.
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: R V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Paiva
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Granville-Garcia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000293:injuries; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003804:Dentin / Q000293:injuries; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008046:Lip / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D057887:Overbite / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D014082:Tooth Fractures / Q000453:epidemiology; D018677:Tooth Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*