title: Prevalence and risk factors for traumatic dental injuries in adolescent children attending special needs schools in India: a comparative study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) are a serious dental health problem affecting adolescents and needs special attention.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine and compare the prevalence of TDIs in children attending special needs schools and normal school children and identify the risk factors for its occurrence.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 150 special needs school children and 300 normal school children in the 12-15 year age group. A questionnaire was prepared that collected information on socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents like age, sex, and details of the injury-event. The clinical examination was carried out using American Dental Association (ADA) type 3 technique following universal precautions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The children attending special needs schools showed higher prevalence of TDIs than normal school children. Maxillary central incisors were the most commonly affected teeth. A majority of them showed injuries restricted to enamel fracture only and the most common cause for injury was "falling over". Logistic regression analysis showed that there was a significantly higher tendency for special needs children, boys, children with an overjet more than 3 mm, and inadequate lip closure to develop injuries.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TDIs were more prevalent in children attending special needs schools. An overjet more than 3 mm emerged as the strongest risk predictor. Effective policies need to be drafted to treat the injuries and correct the malocclusion.
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Sandeep
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: .
authors.forename: Garima
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dixit
keywords: adolescents; risk factors; special needs schools; traumatic dental injuries (TDIs)