Determinant factors for immediate care seeking after traumatic dental injury among Brazilian children

Abstract The present study aimed to evaluate the frequency of immediate care seeking after traumatic dental injury (TDI) in primary dentition and its association with the children’s characteristics, socioeconomic status, and TDI characteristics. This was a cross-sectional study with dental records of children aged 9 months to 6 years who attended a reference center in TDI in primary dentition between 2007 and 2018. Immediate care seeking after TDI, child’s characteristics, sociodemographic conditions and TDI characteristics were collected. Descriptive statistics and Poisson regression analysis with robust variance were performed (p < 0.05; 95%CI). Among the 493 dental records, 61.1% (n = 301) were of males and 50.5% (n = 249) were from children aged 2 years or less. More than one third of the sample (36.9%; n = 182) sought immediate care after TDI. Among the types of TDI, the prevalence of soft tissue injuries was 59.0% (n = 291), while 51.7% (n = 255) were hard tissue injuries and 54.0% (n = 266) were supporting tissue injuries. Immediate care seeking after TDI was higher in children who needed suture (PR: 1.39; 95%CI: 1.01–1.92. p = 0.039), had luxation (lateral, intrusion, or extrusion) (PR: 2.36; 95%CI: 1.36–4.08. p = 0.002) or avulsion (PR: 2.18; 95%CI: 1.28–3.70. p = 0.004). The need for suture, luxation (lateral, intrusion and extrusion), and avulsion were determinant factors for the immediate care seeking after TDI, regardless of the child’s characteristics and socioeconomic status.