Anterior dental trauma treated after-hours in Newcastle, Australia.

This study investigated the occurrence, causes and types of anterior dental trauma treated outside normal clinic and practice hours in Newcastle, Australia. During a 2 1/2-yr period, 233 patients presented for treatment of traumatic injuries to anterior teeth on week nights, weekends and public holidays. The highest occurrence of trauma was in the 18 to 23 yr group (24.9%), followed by the 6 to 11 (23.6%) and the 12 to 17 (22.3%) yr groups. Men sustained injuries more frequently than women in all age groups. The male/female ratio was 2.6:1. The four main causes of trauma were falls (26.6%), sports (18.0%), bicycle accidents (14.2%) and assaults or fights (13.3%). The 233 patients sustained 488 injuries to 95 primary and 373 permanent teeth (n = 468). Maxillary central incisors were the most frequently injured teeth. The mean number of teeth injured per patient was 2.01. Luxation (46.9%) was the most common injury in the primary dentition. In the permanent dentition, crown fractures without pulp exposures (25.0%), followed by luxation (23.5%), were the most common injuries. Avulsion represented 11.5% of all injuries. The findings of this study indicate that anterior dental trauma treated after-hours may be more severe, involve more teeth and affect predominantly older age groups than traumatic injuries treated during normal hours.