Dental Injuries in 12-year Old Nigerian students

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and causes of Traumatic Dental Injuries (TDIs) in 12-year-old Nigerian students. The study also sought to ascertain the relationship(s) among gender, location (urban and rural areas) and overjet in the presentation of TDIs. Methods: The sample size included 719 school children aged 12 years from 36 public schools. They were proportionately selected through a multistage sampling technique. TDIs to the teeth were evaluated clinically by one examiner (intra-examiner reliability test was 0.771 by Cronbach's Alpha test). The TDIs were classified according to the WHO classification. Overjet was considered a risk when its values were > 6 mm. The children answered a structured questionnaire on sociodemographics and oral health behaviours. Analysis was performed using spss V16.0 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA). Pearson's Chi-squared test was used to test for association between variables and Odds ratio (OR). P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: There were 411 (57.2%) boys. More than half (54.2%) were from the urban areas. Prevalence of TDI was 15.2% (prevalence in the urban and rural locations were 15.1% and 15.2% respectively). The maxillary central incisors (66.7%) were the most affected teeth followed by the laterals (17.4%). Enamel fracture (73.5%) was the most common type of TDI noticed followed by enamel and dentine fracture (15.9%). Falls (64.2%) were the most frequent cause of trauma. Collisions account for 9.2%. Eighteen (2.5%) students had overjet > 6 mm. TDIs were more prevalent among males (P = 0.025, OR = 1.520, 95% CI = 1.049, 2.202) and those with overjet > 6 mm (P = 0.029, OR = 0.344, 95% CI = 0.141, 1.088). The occurrence of TDIs was not related to location (P > 0.05). Conclusions: The prevalence of traumatized teeth among 12-year-olds in Nigeria was comparable to other studies. Being male and having an overjet > 6 mm were associated with a higher probability of having a traumatized tooth.