Assessment of Traumatic Dental Injuries of Permanent Incisors in a Group of Visually Impaired Egyptian Children and its Association with Influencing Factors

Background: prevalence of traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) among visually impaired children varies from one country to another. Different factors aside visual impairment influences the prevalence as well as the severity of such injuries. Evaluating the level of the health care provided for those children by comparing number of traumatized cases and number of treated cases would help in documenting the need for creating a special health care program for them. Aim: this study aims at assessment of traumatic dental injuries in a group of visually impaired Egyptian children and the effect of the relative factors in their prevalence.
Design: A cross sectional analytic study using a questionnaire and clinical examination was conducted to assess the prevalence of TDIs of the upper and lower permanent incisors and its relevant factors in children attending two governmental schools for blind children, one school for girls and the other one for boys.
Results: Among 402 blind students examined in the current study, 210 (52.2%) students were males and 192 (47.8%) were females. Prevalence of traumatic dental injuries among the study population was 9.95% (40 students). Prevalence of traumatic dental injuries among males was (11.43%) while it was (8.33%) among females, the difference was not significant. Upper central incisors had the highest frequency of trauma (72.5%) and fracture of enamel and dentine was the most frequent TDIS (57.5%). Fall was the most common cause of injury (55%) and the most frequent place of injury was at home (55%). Mean age of children at time of injury is 11.85 (±1.47) years. Only five cases (12.5%) had dental treatment and restoration of their traumatic injuries. There were significant correlations between increased overjet and/ or inadequate lip coverage and the prevalence of TDIs.
Conclusions: Environmental factors proposed to influence the prevalence of TDIs were difficult to evaluate in the presence of similar conditions in both schools. The most significant oral factors in predisposing TDIs in blind children are increased overjet and inadequate lip coverage. More efforts are needed to provide better dental health care service for visually impaired children.