Urgency treatment profile of 0 to 15 year-old children assisted at urgency dental service from Bauru Dental School, University of São Paulo

Abstract

Dental recordings of 0 to 15-year-old patients assisted at Urgency Dental Service (UDS) from Bauru Dental School, University of São Paulo, in 2001 and 2002, were assessed in order to quantify the number of patients that used the service, to determine attendance patterns, and to record the frequency of different types of dental emergencies and their performed treatment. Data were plotted and submitted to a descriptive statistical analysis. Among the total of patients attended at UDS (6020), 1166 (19.37%) were children, with mean age of 9.24 years. Trauma was the cause for 199 (17.06%) of the recorded urgency visits. It occurred more frequently in children between 0 and 3 years of age (34.42%), and between 7 and 12 years of age (18.12%). The main treatments performed were temporary restoration (33.33%) for coronal fracture, and orientation (24.44%) for luxation. Nontraumatic events were the etiology for 967 (82.92%) of the total urgency diagnosis. The most commonly found nontraumatic diagnosis was dental caries lesions (61.75%), followed by problems of eruption or root resorption (14.27%) and bone or soft tissue lesions (6.51%), among others (17.47%). The most frequent treatments performed for caries lesions were: excavation and temporary restoration (39.39%) when there was no abscess, and coronal opening and dressing (40.95%) for caries lesions with abscess. There was an increasing trend in caries lesions prevalence according to the rising of the age, in contrast to trauma prevalence. Treatment for both situations was done according to the indicated protocol for each case.