Oro-dental injuries and their management among children and adolescents in Tanzania

Objective: To investigate, by utilising patient records, the occurrence of the various types of dental trauma and the treatment provided among children aged one to seventeen years. Design: A retrospective survey of dental clinic records. Setting: Paedodontic clinic of the Faculty of Dentistry, Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Subjects: Records of 130 dental patients aged one to seventeen years who were treated in 1995 and 1996. Main outcome measure: Types of injuries (periodontal, soft tissue, dental tissues). Types of treatment given in relation to type of injury. Evaluation of treatment provided by using European treatment standards. Results: Soft tissue injuries were recorded in 49% of the patients. Periodontal and dental tissue injuries were recorded in 34% and 8% of the patients respectively. While injured teeth were extracted in 30% of the cases, soft tissues were stitched in 70% and antibiotics were prescribed in 34% of the patients respectively. Evaluation of treatment provided showed that 31%, 52% and 17% of the teeth received the correct, wrong and unnecessary treatment respectively. Conclusion: Our observations correlate well with other reports. However, efforts on standardisation of treatment for oro-dental injuries should be undertaken.