Occurrence and timing of complications following traumatic dental injuries: A retrospective study in a dental trauma department

BACKGROUND: This study explores the pattern of complications occurrence resulting from traumatic dental injuries, the relation of this pattern to the number of years from the time of the injury to its first diagnosis, and other contributing characteristics such as root development and trauma characteristic. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients’ data treated following dental trauma from 2002 to 2014 were classified and grouped according to age, gender, tooth type, injury type, diagnosis and the time that elapsed between the traumatic event and the diagnosis of complications (TIC). The distribution function of the quantitative parameters was determined with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Fisher exact test was used to test differences between categorical parameters. RESULTS: The review identified 166 patients (114 male and 52 female), with a total of 287 traumatized teeth, and a mean of 1.8 injured teeth per incident. Maxillary teeth were involved significantly more often in traumatic dental injuries. The follow-up period range (TIC) had a mean of 2.99 years. The most frequent complication was pulp necrosis (34.2%). The most frequent complication related to avulsion was ankylotic root resorption (50%) diagnosed after a median TIC of 1.18 years. Open apices at the occurrence of trauma were observed in 52 teeth. Of these, 54.9% experienced pulp necrosis and 9.8% inflammatory root resorption with a median TIC of 1.63 years. Teeth that experienced multiple traumatic events showed significantly more late pulp necrosis compared to teeth that experienced a single traumatic injury (61.9% vs. 25.3%, respectively, p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Follow-up periods should be based on the type of traumatic dental injury and the severity of the potential complications for the tooth. Current recommendations for follow-up after traumatic dental injury should be revised to reflect the need for more frequent and overall prolonged follow-up. Key words:Dental trauma, avulsion, open apex, pulp necrosis, root resorption, follow-up, complications.