[Dental and dentoalveolar injuries: their etiology, incidence and distribution in a specialized university service].

From 1987 to 1992, 520 patients presenting with traumatic injuries were referred to the Department of Orthodontics and Pedodontics at the University of Geneva. The sample consisted of 949 injuries, involving 556 primary and 393 permanent teeth. They concerned mostly upper primary (56%) or permanent (35%) incisors, and were more frequent in boys (60.6%) than girls (39.4%). Various epidemiological observations concerning etiology, age distribution and seasonal variations are discussed. Given the limits assigned by data derived from a selected sample, they are compared with other studies dealing with traumatic injuries.