A clinical study on the dental emergency patients visiting an University Hospital emergency room

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: In today's society, the rapid and appropriate care of the dental emergency patients is much more important. So, a retrospective study on the characteristics of emergency dental injuries and diseases will be very meaningful. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective clinical study was carried by reviewing the radiographic films and emergency chart of 11,493 patients who had visited the emergency room of Hallym Sacred heart Hospital and were treated in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from January 2006 to December 2010. RESULTS: The male to female ratio was 1.91. The highest monthly incidence was observed in May (10.4%) and June (8.9%) and the peak age distribution was the first decade (56.0%), followed by the second decade (16.0%). Trauma was the most common cause in dental emergency patients, followed in order by toothache, odontogenic infection, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder and oral hemorrhage. Soft tissue injury was most prevalent in the trauma group, followed by tooth injury and facial bone fractures. In the tooth injury group, tooth fracture (56.7%) showed the highest incidence followed in order by tooth subluxation (18.2%), tooth concussion (16.9%), tooth avulsion (11.5%) and alveolar bone fractures (3.7%). In the facial bone fracture group, mandibular fractures (81.8%) showed the highest incidence followed in order by maxilla fractures (15.7%), nasal bone fractures (9.0%), zygomaticomaxillary complex fractures (5.4%), orbital bone fractures (2.5%). In mandibular bone fractures, the most common location was the symphysis (70.1%), followed in order by the mandibular angle (33.0%), mandibular condyle (22.8%) and mandibular body (13.6%). In the infection group, a submandibular space abscess (46.2%) was most common followed in order by a buccal space abscess (17.4%), canine space abscess (16.9%) and submental space abscess (12.3%). TMJ dislocation (89.3%) showed the highest incidence in the TMJ disorder group, followed by TMJ derangement (10.7%). In the other group, a range of specific symptoms due to post operation complications, trigeminal neuralgia, chemical burns and foreign body aspiration were reported. CONCLUSION: For the rapid and appropriate care of the dental emergency patients, well-organized system should be presented in oral and maxillofacial surgery. And it is possible under analysis of pattern and the variation of the dental emergency patients.