title: A retrospective study of traumatic dental injuries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The prognosis of dental trauma cases varies depending on the time elapsed after the trauma before treatment started. The aim of this study was to examine epidemiological and dental data from traumatic injuries to primary and permanent teeth during the period from 2005 to 2010.
  
  
  METHODS
  The examinations aimed to determine the age and sex distributions of patients, the causes of tooth injury, the type of teeth injured, the monthly distribution of the trauma, the time elapsed between injury and treatment, and the classification of the traumatized teeth and their treatments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The dental trauma records of patients with an average age of 9 years, including 120 girls (35.3%) and 220 boys (64.7%), were evaluated. The most commonly affected teeth were the maxillary central incisors (66.24%). The main cause was falls (70.1%). In primary dentition, subluxation (36.4%) was observed in the highest percentage of injured teeth, and in permanent dentition, the most common observation was uncomplicated crown fractures (44.9%). Only 18 patients (2.9%) were referred to the clinic within 1 h following the injury. The most frequent treatment for primary teeth was examination and follow up (63.9%). Restoration with composite resin (26.3%) and root canal treatment (28.6%) were the most common procedures for permanent teeth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was revealed that although the most frequent type of injury in permanent dentition was uncomplicated crown fracture, the root canal treatment was the most common treatment in permanent dentition. This finding suggests that when the checkup time after the injury was delayed, the pulp could lose vitality. This finding reveals that it is important to inform the parents about dental trauma and the importance of bringing their children fast to a dentist in trauma cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Didem
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Atabek
authors.forename: Alev
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alaçam
authors.forename: Itır
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Aydintuğ
authors.forename: Gonca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Konakoğlu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D018677:Tooth Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: dental trauma; tooth injury; treatment