title: Traumatic dental injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the incidence of traumatic dental injury and consequential dental impairment following road traffic accidents and to examine the factors that can affect the monetary value of compensation for bodily injury payable pursuant to current insurance regulations.
  
  
  METHODS
  From 2004 to 2014, 7233 persons involved in road traffic accidents in the province of Messina, eastern Sicily, were examined by insurance physicians to assess bodily injury damage. Data were collected from cases of traumatic dental injury causing malocclusion and temporomandibular joint dysfunction, either alone or concomitant with injuries to other parts of the body. Injury characteristics and consequential bodily injury damage were classified and the incidence calculated using Microsoft Excel software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of traumatic dental injuries was 3% of the total population (195 subjects - 127 males and 68 females); the majority of cases (56%) involved riders of two-wheeled vehicles. A high percentage of riders received injury to one or more teeth, i.e. fractures and dislocations, more frequently to the anterior teeth (68%) than the posterior teeth because of their position in the dental arch. Temporomandibular joint injuries were far fewer (8%) and resulted from either direct or indirect trauma associated with severe head and/or neck injury. The incidence of permanent bodily damage consequential to these injuries was fairly low.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the incidence of dental trauma following road traffic accidents is low, the monetary compensation for consequential dental impairment based on current insurance regulatory law is far from negligible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and of Morphological and Functional Imaging, Università degli Studi di Messina, Messina, Italy - patrizia.gualniera@unime.it.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gualniera
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scurria
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sapienza
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asmundo
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000191:economics; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D035881:Compensation and Redress; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007572:Jaw Fractures / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D019838:Neck Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D009790:Occupations; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012802:Sicily / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013705:Temporomandibular Joint Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D014082:Tooth Fractures / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D018677:Tooth Injuries / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult