In Children, Tooth Injuries as Common as Decay
April 1, 2009

by Nancy Volkers
InteliHealth News Service

INTELIHEALTH - In children under 5, injury (trauma) to the teeth is about as common as decay, a study has found.

Researchers from the University of Pernambuco in Brazil did the study. Nearly 3,500 children were in the study. More than 100 dental students looked at the children's teeth. They examined more than 56,000 teeth.

Overall, about 15% of children's teeth had some sort of injury. The most common injury was a broken or cracked tooth. Discoloration was the next most common. The two front teeth were most likely to be injured.

About 14% of the children's teeth had decay. Older children were more likely than younger ones to have decay.

Children from higher-income families had more injuries to their teeth. Children from lower-income families had more decay.

The study appears in the April issue of the journal Dental Traumatology.