Work-related traumatic dental injuries: Prevalence, characteristics and risk factors

Prevalence of Occupational Injuries of the Oral and Maxillofacial Region and Their Covariates Among Building Construction Workers in Chennai

Background and aim With many risky environmental conditions, civil construction sites are prone to physical injuries, especially those pertaining to the oral and maxillofacial regions. The current study was an effort to assess the magnitude and pattern of such oral and maxillofacial injuries and the factors associated with them. Methodology This descriptive study was carried out on 524 construction workers, of whom 254 met the inclusion criteria related to work site injuries. An interviewer-administered proforma with basic demographic details is used in conjunction with an intraoral examination to classify the dental injury. Descriptive statistics were done to evaluate the frequency of injury occurrence, while inferential statistics, including the chi-square test and regression analysis, were done to evaluate the association between injury and the variable under concern. Result The study includes a total of 254 participants, with ages ranging from 20 to above 50 years, of whom 230 (91%) were males and 24 (9.4%) were females. The majority, 200 (78.7%), were unskilled laborers, and 195 (76.7%) were migrant workers with language barriers. It was found that 95 (76.7%) had a history of dental injury alone, while 59 (23.2%) had a history of oral maxillofacial injury. Among the reasons for injury, the increased odds ratios (OD) were noted in the collapse of the surrounding area as 0.050 (0.029-0.075), rainy season 1.001 (0.891-1.281), unskilled labor 1.020 (0.910-1.30), and migrants 1.010 (0.901-1.200). The OD for males is 2.052 (1.941-2.101). Conclusion The current study confirms that the magnitude of workplace-related injuries is significant, and the majority of them stem from basic language barriers among migrant workers and a lack of knowledge to adhere to safety protocols and instructions given.

Dental trauma education intervention as a positive influence among undergraduate students

Objective

To investigate the effect of dental trauma educational intervention among undergraduate students of a Federal University in Brazil.

Materials and Methods

Students (n = 125) enrolled in the dentistry (n = 70), nursing (n = 33), and speech therapy (n = 22) courses were invited to attend a dental trauma lecture and also to answer a questionnaire about their confidence in managing crown fracture and tooth avulsion, before (T0) and immediately after (T1) the lecture. McNemar's test (P < 0.05) with logistic regression compared the answers between the courses.

Results

Female gender (78.4%) aged from 18 to 22 years (73.6%) predominated among all the participants. Dentistry students scored higher correct answers (54.3%) in T0 when compared to nursing (12%) and speech therapy (9%) students, concerning the storage medium for tooth fragment transportation. Likewise, few dentistry students (22.9%) and no nursing and speech therapy students knew about the ideal storage medium for an avulsed tooth when immediate replantation was unviable. After educational intervention, a significant improvement was found between T0 and T1 (P < 0.001) for all courses, mainly regarding tooth avulsion with almost 100% of correct answers. Furthermore, logistic regression demonstrated that dentistry students had three times more knowledge absorption than nursing and speech therapy ones.

Conclusions

The educational intervention demonstrated a significant positive impact regarding the knowledge of dental trauma emergency management among health students. Accordingly, it is essential to spread this information among health professionals to save teeth, especially in cases of avulsion.