Evaluation of Dentoalveolar Trauma in Children and Adolescents: a Modified Classification System and Surgical Treatment Strategies for Its Management

Objective: To retrospectively analyze dentoalveolar trauma in pediatric patients, propose a modified classification, and delineate an approach for its urgent care from the surgeon's perspective.

Patients And Methods: Clinical records of patients, attended at the 'A. and P. Kyriakou' Children's Hospital Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from 2000 to 2015, were retrieved and data were analyzed.

Results: A total of 365 cases of dentoalveolar trauma, affecting 363 children and adolescents (221 males and 142 females), with an age range from 1 to 15 years, were treated in the authors' department. The most common injury mechanism was falls. The trauma was graded as class II in most patients (41.65%). The anterior maxilla was injured in the majority of the patients (78.35%). In 230 patients (63%) the trauma involved the primary dentition. Two hundred eighty-nine of the patients were treated with local anesthesia on an emergency basis, while in the rest 76 patients general anesthesia was considered mandatory.

Conclusions: Accurate diagnosis, timely treatment, and follow-up are critical for the management of dentoalveolar trauma in pediatric patients. A modified more detailed and severity-specific classification and guidelines for its surgical management may assist practitioners in decision making and effective treatment planning.