Exploring the impact of malocclusion and dentofacial anomalies on the occurrence of traumatic dental injuries in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between malocclusion/dentofacial anomalies and traumatic dental injuries (TDI) in adolescents.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample of this cross-sectional study comprised 509 adolescents aged 11 to 14 years enrolled at public schools in the city of Osório, southern Brazil. Parents answered a structured questionnaire addressing demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. An examiner who had undergone a training and calibration exercise recorded malocclusion/dentofacial anomalies (Dental Aesthetic Index, DAI), TDI (Andreasen), and dental caries (World Health Organisation). Statistical analyses (SPSS software) involved Poisson regression with robust variance.

RESULTS: The prevalence of TDI was 11.6%, and the prevalence of defined, severe, and handicapping malocclusion was 24.0%, 21.6%, and 22.0%, respectively. The multivariate analysis demonstrated that the probability of TDI was approximately twofold higher among adolescents with severe malocclusion (prevalence ratio [PR] 2.22; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.14-4.31) and handicapping malocclusion (PR 1.95; 95% CI 1.01-3.85) in comparison to those with normal occlusion or minor malocclusion. Defined malocclusion was not significantly associated with the outcome. Among the dentofacial anomalies evaluated, the probability of TDI was nearly twofold higher among adolescents with overjet greater than 3 mm (PR 1.96; 95% CI 1.14-3.37) and 2.2-fold higher among those with an abnormal molar relationship (PR 2.24; 95% CI 1.17-4.32), after controlling for confounding variables.

CONCLUSIONS: Severe and handicapping malocclusion, accentuated overjet, and abnormal molar relationship were strongly associated with the occurrence of TDI. Future studies should investigate whether the treatment of these conditions can help reduce the occurrence of TDI in adolescents.