• Users Online: 487
  • Home
  • Print this page
  • Email this page
Home About us Editorial board Ahead of print Current issue Search Archives Submit article Instructions Subscribe Contacts Login 


 
 Table of Contents  
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Year : 2015  |  Volume : 4  |  Issue : 2  |  Page : 51-56

Epidemiology of traumatic dental injuries in Tunisia: A prospective study


1 Department of Dental Medicine, Sahloul Hospital, Sousse, Faculty of Dentistry, Monastir; Laboratory of Research in Oral Healh and Maxillo Facial Rehabilitation (LR12ES11), Faculty of Dental Medicine, University of Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia
2 Research Group on Molecular and Cellular Screening Processes, Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

Date of Web Publication22-Mar-2016

Correspondence Address:
Dr. Ines Kallel
Department of Dental Medicine, Hospital Sahloul, 4054 Sousse
Tunisia
Login to access the Email id

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/1597-1112.179218

Rights and Permissions
  Abstract 

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of traumatic dental injury (TDI) in Tunisian patients.
Patients and Methods: All the trauma patients who had attended the Department of Dental Medicine, Hospital, Sahloul, Sousse city, during 4 years (2009-2013), were included in this study. Age, sex, etiology, and, time between the TDI and dental cares were recorded. The type of trauma was identified according to Andreasen's classification. Data were evaluated using the Chi-square, ANOVA, and Student's t-test.
Results: TDIs were higher among the age group of 11-20 years (35%), with more males being affected (sex ratio: 2.2:1). Falls was the most common etiological factor causing TDI (33%). The most frequent type of trauma is enamel-dentin fracture without pulp exposure (38%). Only 9% of patients sought dental care within 24 h of the injury.   A significant difference of the sex repartition between different trauma etiologies (P = 0.013) was found. Age group repartition and etiology of trauma was significantly associated (P = 0.007) (the most common etiology of TDIs in 11-20 years age group is fall).
Conclusion: In this study, fall is the most common etiology of TDI and that the majority of patients sought dental treatment after more than 24 h of the injury.   Therefore, significant strategies of trauma prevention and immediate treatment of injuries such as awareness campaigns in primary schools, colleges for emergency attitudes to adopt in case of dental trauma including total dislocation are needed to change epidemiologic data to the better.

Keywords: Dental education, epidemiology, luxation injuries, tooth fracture, traumatic dental injury


How to cite this article:
Kallel I, Kallel I, Douki N. Epidemiology of traumatic dental injuries in Tunisia: A prospective study. Afr J Trauma 2015;4:51-6

How to cite this URL:
Kallel I, Kallel I, Douki N. Epidemiology of traumatic dental injuries in Tunisia: A prospective study. Afr J Trauma [serial online] 2015 [cited 2024 Mar 19];4:51-6. Available from: https://www.afrjtrauma.com/text.asp?2015/4/2/51/179218


  Introduction Top


There is an increased incidence of dental trauma worldwide resulting from both intentional and unintentional injuries. By the year 2020, the World Health Organization predicts that injuries will become the foremost reason for human life years. [1],[2] Traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) have become a relative serious public health problem because of its frequency, occurrence at a young age, costs and that treatment may continue for the rest of the patient's life. There are few data about TDI in Tunisian populations. There is evidence that the incidence of TDI is relatively high in many countries such as Brazil, South Africa, and Chile. [1],[2],[3],[4]

Oral injuries cause esthetic, psychological, social, functional, and therapeutic problems and can cause irreparable dental loss, not only at the time of accident, but also after treatment. There were paucity of data on epidemiology of TDIs compared to dental caries. [5]

Therefore, this paper aims to study the epidemiological profile of TDI in Tunisian population as a basis for its prevention.


  Patients and Methods Top


This is a prospective study of all trauma patients who presented to the Department of Dental Medicine, Hospital Sahloul, Sousse, Tunisia, from June 2009 to June 2013 including patients referred from other hospitals.

Data were collected using a questionnaire. The data obtained included individual demographic data (name, age, sex, education), type of accidents (road traffic crash, fall, violence, etc.), type of injury (tooth fractures, luxation injuries, maxillofacial injury), oral and X-ray examination, site(s) of fracture(s) of maxillofacial skeleton, and the time elapsed between injury and seeking of dental care.

The classification of TDIs proposed by Andreasen and Andreasen based on a system adopted by the World Health Organization [6] was used to classify injuries. The diagnosis was based on both clinical and radiological findings.

Data analysis was undertaken using SPSS for Windows 20.0 statistical software (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Chi-square tests were used to compare qualitative data and determine statistical significance at level of 5%. The quantitative parameters were presented as mean ± standard deviation and are compared by Student's t-test and ANOVA tests between patients groups. A Ps < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.


  Results Top


There has been a significant increase in trauma patients during the years of our study, with a peak during 2011; a total of 100 patients were observed in which 45 are seen during 2011, and only 4, 6, 26, 24 patients were seen during 2009-2013, respectively [Figure 1].
Figure 1: Increased frequency in trauma patients


Click here to view


The age and sex distribution of study population is shown in [Table 1]. Patients' age ranged from 3 to 60 years (mean 24.7 ± 14.92 years). The highest number of patients 35 (35%) were in the 11-20 years age group. There were significantly more males affected than female (sex ratio: 2.2:1), P = 0.013. There was an overwhelming male preponderance in all age groups.
Table 1: Distribution of patient with dental injuries trauma by age and gender


Click here to view


Most of the trauma cases were due to fall 33 (33%), followed by road traffic crash (31%). Violence was responsible in 27 (27%), occupational accidents (7%), school accidents (1%), and others (1%). The etiological distribution of facial trauma cases according to sex is shown in [Table 2].
Table 2: Correlation between etiologies, delay of consultation, demographic parameters, and biological markers (age/sex)


Click here to view


There was a significant gender difference between different trauma etiologies (P = 0.013). There were more males affected than female by violence than road traffic accidents (P = 0.002). However, no significant difference was found between fall and road accident according to gender.

Furthermore, the different type of etiology was significantly associated with mean age of patient (P* = 0.014). The victims of road traffic crash are older than those with falls (Ps = 0.027) [Table 3]. In trauma cases, due to fall, the most commonly affected age group was the 11-20 years (15%) group.
Table 3: Distribution of tooth fracture, luxation injuries, and both according to age groups


Click here to view


Delay of consultation

Only 9% of patients presented before 24 h after the injury. Most trauma patients presented for dental care between 1 and 3 days after trauma (47%) [Table 2]. Patient affected by road crash present later than patients with assault (P = 0.002). These patients (victims of assault) present also rather late than those who sustained injury from fall (P = 0.05).

Associated maxillofacial trauma

During the study, out of the 100 trauma patients, there are 44 (44%) cases of fractures of maxillofacial skeleton, 35 (35%) cases were mid-face [Figure 2] (zygomatic bones, LeFort II), and 9 are mandible fracture [Figure 3]. The male female ratio was 1.75:1. The highest incidence of maxillofacial fracture was in the age group of 11-20 years (13%). A significant difference was found between the presence of associated maxillofacial fracture and etiology (P = 0.037).
Figure 2: Different type of mid-face fractures


Click here to view
Figure 3: Distribution of mandible fractures


Click here to view


The major causative factor of maxillofacial fracture was road traffic crash (41.1%) followed by aggression (30.4%).

The tooth fracture was found in 64% of our patients and the luxation injury affects 70% of patients. The main type of TDI is fracture with the involvement of enamel and dentine, but without the exposure of the dental pulp (38%) followed by total luxation (26%). In tooth fracture, the most common type was amelodentin fracture without pulp exposure (44%) followed by root fracture (23%), amelodentin fracture with pulp exposure (21%), crown-root fracture (12%). In luxation injuries, the most frequent type was total luxation (25%) followed by subluxation (22%), extrusion (19%), lateral luxation (17%), contusion (16%), and intrusion (1%).

Tooth fracture, luxation injuries, and both type of injuries were found in 7%, 13%, 15%, respectively, among 11-20 years group [Table 3]. The average age of patient with luxation injuries was significantly different (lower) than the average age of patient with tooth fracture (Ps = 0.026). There is no significant difference in sex distribution in tooth fracture, luxation injuries, neither between both kinds of TDI (P > 0.05) [Table 4].
Table 4: Association of traumatic dental injuries with sex and age parameters


Click here to view



  Discussion Top


The limited number of trauma cases reported in this study may indicate that many patients did not seek dental treatment after minor trauma or that the true incidence of dental trauma is low in Sousse, Tunisia. Even though, we note a trend for increasing of trauma patient incidence in this study [Figure 1], this finding is in agreement with literature that point out increase in these injuries during the past few decades. [7],[8],[9] The peak observed in this study, during 2011 [Figure 1], can be explained by the revolution that took place in our country. Numerous works have shown increasing rate of aggression and that boys are more affected than girls. [3],[8],[10],[11],[12],[13] This study confirms this general finding. In the present work, the male to female ratio was 2.2:1, is reasonably similar to the 2.5:1 ratio found by Guedes et al., [14] in Brazilian population and also close to 2:1 ratio found by Díaz et al., [4] in Chile, but higher than the male: female ratio (1.4:1) showed by Gábris et al., [7] in Budapest and (1.6:1) by Sandalli et al., [8] in Turkish population. These difference observations might be explained by that boys participate in more aggressive type of games, more violent behavior, and contact sports. Girls are less prone to TDIs as our social setup and cultural reservations do not allow them to be involved in vigorous outdoor activities. In the present study, the most frequent age group with TDI is 11-20 years, this class constituted 35% of patients, similar to several studies that estimated that 71-92% of all TDIs sustained in a lifetime occur before the age of 19 years, also some studies have reported a decrease after the age of 24-30 years, [2],[15] but others search found more frequent TDI in younger patients. [14],[16] In Brazilian population, Guedes et al. [14] noted that dental injuries were common among the 6-10-year-old patients (31.5%), and in South-East Queensland, Australia, Wood and Freer found 26.2% in the same group age (6-10 years). [16] This may be attributed to the increasing mobility and activity in this age or could be explained by fact that dental injury is a cumulative defect. However, it is necessary to be cautious at comparing the prevalence among the studies that use different methodologies. Regarding demographic of study population; our study showed a significantly higher incidence of TDI in urban than in rural areas. This results are quite close to the Norwegian study that showed a significantly higher incidence in urban (20/1000) than in rural areas (13/1000 individuals), [2] this could be related to similar life style adopted by patients. In our study in urban area the second most common etiology of trauma is the road crash, similar results were found in the population-based study by Skaare and Jacobsen in Norway, in fact 10% of TDIs are due to traffi c accidents in teenagers in urban areas. [17]

Few published data are available as regards the period elapsing between accident and time of presentation for medical care. Oulis and Berdouses [18] observed that 68% of their patients in Athens presented for treatment on the 3 rd day after the trauma. In Budapest, Gábris et al. [7] showed that 77% of the cases presented for treatment in the first 3 days. In Temuco, Chile, [15] a high proportion of the patients received their first emergency attention 24 h after the accident (32.6%). This finding is in agreement with our study in which the majority of patients (47%) consult for dental care from 1 to 3 days after trauma. However, Eyuboglu et al. [19] mentioned that the percentage of the patients who came to a dental clinic in the first 3 days after the trauma was (22.8%), which was less than patients who came after 3 months and more (45.1%).

In the present work, it was remarkable that patients who presented rather late are those victims of road crash. The delay in initial emergency treatment might be due to (i) the high frequency of patients referred from other cities, (ii) the lack of a dentist at this emergency unit, and (iii) in cases of polytraumatize patients, the emergency management of dental injuries is not the priority.

Traffic crashes have more than 2-fold risk of facial bone fractures when compared with other injury types; [20] this finding is in accordance with our study in which the major causative factor of maxillofacial fracture was road traffic crashes followed by aggression.

The most common type of injuries was the fracture of crown without pulpal involvement. Similar result were illustrated in different population as in Budapest, in South-East Queensland, Australia, in Istanbul-Turkey, also recently, in Australia, in Eastern Anatolia Region-Turkey, in Brazile, in Romania, in Iraq, and in Jordan [7],[11],[14],[16],[19],[21],[22],[23],[24] but unlike than those findings reported by numerous investigators [8],[9],[10],[25],[26],[27],[28],[29],[30] in which enamel fracture is the most important type of TDI.

The second most important type of injury in this current study is total luxation (26%), which is in contrast to the majority of studies in which dental avulsion represents a very small percentage of TDI for instance in Kuwait, it is 4.4% [25] and in Budapest (only 4.39%), [7] also near to the result found in Turkey population (9.9%). [8] However, values closest to our results, 18.3% were observed by Guedes et al., in Brazilian population. [14] In Australia, total luxation varies greatly from one study to another, with reported incidence of avulsion cases ranges between 1.9% and 11.2%. [11]

Variations in the types of dental injury found according to age as luxation injuries were found to be more common in group ages (11-20 years) and rare with older patients. This could be attributed to the ability of bone and periodontal ligament of adult to absorb more energy of the impact, thereby favoring dislocations rather than fractures, this finding is in accordance with others studies. [8],[10] This can also explain why among older patients, enamel and dentine fracture increases, as with aging the resiliency of bone decrease and the impact of exposure will be on the tooth itself.

There is some variation between the studies and countries regarding the predominant causes of dental trauma, although falls appear to be the most common factor in literature. [3],[8],[10],[11],[12],[20],[21],[23],[24],[25],[31],[32] The same finding was observed in our study in fact the highest etiology of dental trauma is falls (33%) followed by road traffic crash accident (31%).

In Tunisia, there is a fast growth in the volume of road traffic. A substantial rural to urban drift of the productive segment of the population has increased the density of urban population. Deteriorating infrastructure such as bad roads and noncompliance with seat belt and crash helmet legislation can also be considered as the factors contributing to the increasing road traffic crashes in developing countries.

The etiological factors varied according to the age group studied, and this association can be explained by age-related activities and the characteristics of motor coordination development as the majority of TDI cases resulted from falls in age group 0-10 and 11-20 years. With the increase of age, traffic crashes became the main etiologic agent, as reported elsewhere. [4],[14]


  Conclusion Top


This study provides baseline information on TDI in population of Sousse, Tunisia, with hitherto scarce epidemiological data. Therefore, our findings can help the development of preventive policies. More prospective studies from representative populations are required to understand the complexities of dental trauma to develop appropriate strategies to reduce the increasing frequency of dental trauma.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

 
  References Top

1.
de Vasconcelos Cunha Bonini GA, Marcenes W, Oliveira LB, Sheiham A, Bönecker M. Trends in the prevalence of traumatic dental injuries in Brazilian preschool children. Dent Traumatol 2009;25:594-8.  Back to cited text no. 1
    
2.
Glendor U. Epidemiology of traumatic dental injuries - A 12 year review of the literature. Dent Traumatol 2008;24:603-11.  Back to cited text no. 2
    
3.
Naidoo S, Sheiham A, Tsakos G. Traumatic dental injuries of permanent incisors in 11- to 13-year-old South African schoolchildren. Dent Traumatol 2009;25:224-8.  Back to cited text no. 3
    
4.
Díaz JA, Bustos L, Brandt AC, Fernández BE. Dental injuries among children and adolescents aged 1-15 years attending to public hospital in Temuco, Chile. Dent Traumatol 2010;26:254-61.  Back to cited text no. 4
    
5.
Bendo CB, Scarpelli AC, Vale MP, Araújo Zarzar PM. Correlation between socioeconomic indicators and traumatic dental injuries: A qualitative critical literature review. Dent Traumatol 2009;25:420-5.  Back to cited text no. 5
    
6.
Andreasen JO, Andreasen FM. Classification, etiology and epidemiology. Textbook and Color Atlas of Traumatic Injuries to the Teeth. Copenhagen: Munksgaard; 1994. p. 151-80.  Back to cited text no. 6
    
7.
Gábris K, Tarján I, Rózsa N. Dental trauma in children presenting for treatment at the department of dentistry for children and orthodontics, Budapest, 1985-1999. Dent Traumatol 2001;17:103-8.  Back to cited text no. 7
    
8.
Sandalli N, Cildir S, Guler N. Clinical investigation of traumatic injuries in Yeditepe University, Turkey during the last 3 years. Dent Traumatol 2005;21:188-94.  Back to cited text no. 8
    
9.
Adekoya-Sofowora CA, Adesina OA, Nasir WO, Oginni AO, Ugboko VI. Prevalence and causes of fractured permanent incisors in 12-year-old suburban Nigerian schoolchildren. Dent Traumatol 2009;25:314-7.  Back to cited text no. 9
    
10.
Noori AJ, Al-Obaidi WA. Traumatic dental injuries among primary school children in Sulaimani city, Iraq. Dent Traumatol 2009;25:442-6.  Back to cited text no. 10
    
11.
Yeng T, Parashos P. Dentists′ management of dental injuries and dental trauma in Australia: A review. Dent Traumatol 2008;24:268-71.  Back to cited text no. 11
    
12.
Kumar A, Bansal V, Veeresha KL, Sogi GM. Prevalence of traumatic dental injuries among 12- to 15-year-old schoolchildren in Ambala district, Haryana, India. Oral Health Prev Dent 2011;9:301-5.  Back to cited text no. 12
    
13.
Bendo CB, Vale MP, Figueiredo LD, Pordeus IA, Paiva SM. Social vulnerability and traumatic dental injury among Brazilian schoolchildren: A population-based study. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2012;9:4278-91.  Back to cited text no. 13
    
14.
Guedes OA, de Alencar AH, Lopes LG, Pécora JD, Estrela C. A retrospective study of traumatic dental injuries in a Brazilian dental urgency service. Braz Dent J 2010;21:153-7.  Back to cited text no. 14
    
15.
Bastone EB, Freer TJ, McNamara JR. Epidemiology of dental trauma: A review of the literature. Aust Dent J 2000;45:2-9.  Back to cited text no. 15
    
16.
Wood EB, Freer TJ. A survey of dental and oral trauma in South-East Queensland during 1998. Aust Dent J 2002;47:142-6.  Back to cited text no. 16
    
17.
Skaare AB, Jacobsen I. Etiological factors related to dental injuries in Norwegians aged 7-18 years. Dent Traumatol 2003;19:304-8.  Back to cited text no. 17
    
18.
Oulis CJ, Berdouses ED. Dental injuries of permanent teeth treated in private practice in Athens. Endod Dent Traumatol 1996;12:60-5.  Back to cited text no. 18
    
19.
Eyuboglu O, Yilmaz Y, Zehir C, Sahin H. A 6-year investigation into types of dental trauma treated in a paediatric dentistry clinic in Eastern Anatolia region, Turkey. Dent Traumatol 2009;25:110-4.  Back to cited text no. 19
    
20.
Glendor U. Aetiology and risk factors related to traumatic dental injuries - A review of the literature. Dent Traumatol 2009;25:19-31.  Back to cited text no. 20
    
21.
Yassen GH, Chin JR, Al-Rawi BA, Mohammedsharif AG, Alsoufy SS, Hassan LA, et al. Traumatic injuries of permanent teeth among 6- to 12-year-old Iraqi children: A 4-year retrospective study. J Dent Child (Chic) 2013;80:3-8.  Back to cited text no. 21
    
22.
Rajab LD, Baqain ZH, Ghazaleh SB, Sonbol HN, Hamdan MA. Traumatic dental injuries among 12-year-old schoolchildren in Jordan: Prevalence, risk factors and treatment need. Oral Health Prev Dent 2013;11:105-12.  Back to cited text no. 22
    
23.
Kargul B, Caglar E, Tanboga I. Dental trauma in Turkish children, Istanbul. Dent Traumatol 2003;19:72-5.  Back to cited text no. 23
    
24.
Kovacs M, Pacurar M, Petcu B, Bukhari C. Prevalence of traumatic dental injuries in children who attended two dental clinics in Targu Mures between 2003 and 2011. Oral Health Dent Manag 2012;11:116-24.  Back to cited text no. 24
    
25.
Hasan AA, Qudeimat MA, Andersson L. Prevalence of traumatic dental injuries in preschool children in Kuwait - A screening study. Dent Traumatol 2010;26:346-50.  Back to cited text no. 25
    
26.
Piovesan C, Guedes RS, Casagrande L, Ardenghi TM. Socioeconomic and clinical factors associated with traumatic dental injuries in Brazilian preschool children. Braz Oral Res 2012;26:464-70.  Back to cited text no. 26
    
27.
Bhayya DP, Shyagali TR. Traumatic injuries in the primary teeth of 4- to 6-year-old school children in Gulbarga city, India. A prevalence study. Oral Health Dent Manag 2013;12:17-23.  Back to cited text no. 27
    
28.
Dua R, Sharma S. Prevalence, causes, and correlates of traumatic dental injuries among seven-to-twelve-year-old school children in Dera Bassi. Contemp Clin Dent 2012;3:38-41.  Back to cited text no. 28
[PUBMED]  Medknow Journal  
29.
Francisco SS, Filho FJ, Pinheiro ET, Murrer RD, de Jesus Soares A. Prevalence of traumatic dental injuries and associated factors among Brazilian schoolchildren. Oral Health Prev Dent 2013;11:31-8.  Back to cited text no. 29
    
30.
Patel MC, Sujan SG. The prevalence of traumatic dental injuries to permanent anterior teeth and its relation with predisposing risk factors among 8-13 years school children of Vadodara city: An epidemiological study. J Indian Soc Pedod Prev Dent 2012;30:151-7.  Back to cited text no. 30
[PUBMED]  Medknow Journal  
31.
Nicolau B, Marcenes W, Sheiham A. Prevalence, causes and correlates of traumatic dental injuries among 13-year-olds in Brazil. Dent Traumatol 2001;17:213-7.   Back to cited text no. 31
    
32.
Zuhal K, Semra OE, Hüseyin K. Traumatic injuries of the permanent incisors in children in southern Turkey: A retrospective study. Dent Traumatol 2005;21:20-5.  Back to cited text no. 32
    


    Figures

  [Figure 1], [Figure 2], [Figure 3]
 
 
    Tables

  [Table 1], [Table 2], [Table 3], [Table 4]


This article has been cited by
1 The silent epidemic of common oral diseases among the Arab population: An emerging health problem
AbdulazizS Al Suwyed,KhalidH Al Zoman,AsirvathamAlwin Robert,AbeerM Al-Nowaiser,MahaHail Alabdely,Sultan Al Mubarak
Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. 2021; 10(8): 2768
[Pubmed] | [DOI]



 

Top
 
 
  Search
 
Similar in PUBMED
   Search Pubmed for
   Search in Google Scholar for
 Related articles
Access Statistics
Email Alert *
Add to My List *
* Registration required (free)

 
  In this article
Abstract
Introduction
Patients and Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Article Figures
Article Tables

 Article Access Statistics
    Viewed8097    
    Printed824    
    Emailed0    
    PDF Downloaded790    
    Comments [Add]    
    Cited by others 1    

Recommend this journal


[TAG2]
[TAG3]
[TAG4]