Prevalence of dental trauma and use of mouthguards in professional handball players.
OBJECTIVE
Published data about orofacial injuries and mouthguard use by professional handball players are scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of orofacial trauma and mouthguard use in professional handball players.


METHODS
Data were collected from 100 professional handball players through a questionnaire, which contained 17 questions about age, experience in playing handball, playing position, orofacial trauma experience during the past 12 months, type of injury and mouthguard use.


RESULTS
Almost half (49%) of the interviewed players experienced head and/or facial trauma during the past year. The most common injuries were soft tissue lacerations (39.6%). Dental injuries occurred in 22% of the participants, with socket bleeding being the most frequent injury (14%). Of the affected teeth, 76.9% were upper incisors. Mouthguards had a statistically significant protective role regarding tooth fractures and tooth avulsion (P=.043). Players who wore a mouthguard had a 5.55 times less chance of suffering dental injuries. Almost 76% of dental injuries resulted in complications afterward. Sixty-seven percentage of the players knew that mouthguards could prevent injuries, but only 28% used them regularly. Of the players who wore a mouthguard regularly, 76.9% were advised to do so by their dentists.


CONCLUSIONS
The incidence of head and orofacial injuries among professional handball players is high. Mouthguards prevented severe dental injuries such as tooth fracture and avulsion, but their use was still limited.
Department of Fixed Prosthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
Lana
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5595-4627
L
Bergman
Department of Fixed Prosthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
Slađana
S
Milardović Ortolan
Private Practice, Zagreb, Croatia.
Davor
D
Žarković
Department of Fixed Prosthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
Joško
J
Viskić
Department of Orthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
Dražen
D
Jokić
Department of Fixed Prosthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
Ketij
K
Mehulić
D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005151:Facial Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009064:Mouth Protectors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D017695:Soft Tissue Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018677:Tooth Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D055815:Young Adult
dental trauma; handball; mouthguard