Background/aim: Alveolar bone process fractures in preschool children are not well documented in the literature. Alveolar process fractures are located very close to primary teeth and permanent tooth germs. This study investigates the risk of healing complications following alveolar process fractures in the primary dentition and potential sequelae in the permanent dentition.

Materials and methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted involving 21 patients with 49 primary teeth involved in an alveolar fracture. The follow-up protocol included clinical and radiographic examinations at specified intervals up to the age of 6 years. Healing complications in the primary teeth such as pulp necrosis, pulp canal obliteration, ankylosis, infection-related resorption and premature tooth loss were examined. Sequelae in the permanent dentition was also registered when the permanent incisors had erupted.

Results: Over a 3-year follow-up, the incidence of premature tooth loss was 51.2% [95% CI: 34.1%-68.4%], pulp canal obliteration was 42.5% [95% CI: 27.1%-57.8%], and pulp necrosis was 8.9% [95% CI: 0.6%-17.3%] following an alveolar process fracture. No cases of ankylosis were observed. Sequelae in the permanent dentition primarily included demarcated opacities and hypoplasia with a risk estimated at 24% [95% CI: 13%-39%] and 9% [95% CI: 2%-21%] respectively.

Conclusion: Alveolar process fractures in primary dentition are associated with several healing complications in the primary teeth. Although the likelihood of severe complications in the permanent dentition is low, young children are still susceptible to developing sequelae in their permanent teeth. These results highlight the importance of awareness of dental injuries following alveolar process bone fractures in the primary dentition.

BACKGROUND/AIM: There are few long-term clinical follow-up studies on human teeth replanted immediately or after storage in a suitable storage medium prior to replantation. This study aimed to assess the risk of ankylosis in avulsed human teeth replanted immediately or after storage in physiological media for a short time.

MATERIAL: Data from 116 patients with 145 replanted avulsed permanent teeth were selected from a comprehensive dental trauma database in Copenhagen University Hospital. The following teeth were selected: Group 1 comprised 36 teeth replanted immediately (dry time <6 min; wet time <6 min). Group 2 comprised 61 teeth replanted after physiologic storage media (saliva and saline) (dry time <6 min; wet time >5 min; wet time ranged from 7 to 170 min, and mean wet time was 59 min). Group 3 (control) included 48 teeth replanted after dry storage (dry time > 60 min).

METHOD: Clinical and radiographic registrations were carried out according to a standardized protocol; follow-up ranged from 7 months to 23 years. Ankylosis was diagnosed by percussion test and radiographs and related to the conditions prior to replantation and stage of root development.

RESULTS: The overall risk of ankylosis was 17.2% [95% CI: 4.61; 29.79] for immediately replanted teeth, 55.3% [95% CI: 42.54; 68.00] for teeth stored in physiologic media before replantation, and 85.7% [95% CI: 75.70; 95.73] for teeth stored dry more than 1 h. Mature teeth showed a significantly higher risk of ankylosis than immature teeth.

CONCLUSION: This clinical long-term study has verified earlier experimental studies showing that immediate reimplantation has the lowest risk of ankylosis. Physiologic storage media are good alternatives that also reduce the risk of ankylosis compared to dry storage, where ankylosis is more likely although not always seen. Mature teeth are significantly more likely to develop ankylosis.

This systematic review aimed to evaluate the evidence related to the occurrence of pulp necrosis and related complications in permanent anterior teeth with lateral luxation. It was envisaged to address the ambiguity related to the recommendation for pulp extirpation in teeth with mature root apex. An a priori protocol was formulated as per the best practices of evidence-based medicine and registered in PROSPERO. A comprehensive search was performed electronically in PubMed, LILACS, Web of Science, EMBASE, Scopus, and Cochrane on July 10,2023 without any restriction of language or year of publication. The screening of titles and abstracts and later the full-text articles were performed. Later, the data extraction was performed by using a self-designed sheet, risk of bias (ROB) assessment was done, meta-analysis was performed, and the GRADE approach was used to assess the quality of evidence. The qualitative synthesis was performed on 13 studies done from 1985 to 2020 in hospital settings. There was variability in the minimum and total observation periods, sample sizes, and characteristics of the sample population. The overall pooled prevalence of pulp necrosis was found to be 57% (95% CI: 42, 72%). It was 12% (95% CI: 8%, 18%, I2 = 0%) in immature teeth, and 58% (95% CI: 42, 73%, I2 = 86%) in mature teeth. The pooled prevalence of EIRR was found to be 11% (95% CI: 4, 27%, I2 = 95%) with greater risk in teeth with mature root apex (RR: 1.26, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.42, I2 = 0%). The ROB was moderate or high in nine studies and the GRADE of evidence was very low in 14 of 15 outcomes. There are greater chances of pulp necrosis in teeth with lateral luxation, especially with mature apex. However, it can still be less than 60% in most cases with the prevalence of EIRR less than 20%. Hence, an absolute recommendation for endodontic intervention in mature teeth with lateral luxation must be interpreted with slight caution.

Dental trauma is complex, as it includes a wide range of different injury types with each type requiring specific considerations. It constitutes the fifth-most prevalent disease, and nearly 900 million individuals from 7 to 65 years of age are affected. The Dental Trauma Guide (DTG) project was initiated by Dr. Jens Andreasen in 2008 with the intention that all dentists around the world should be able to get access to the best available evidence regarding diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis for a patient with dental trauma within a few minutes. The DTG has been a global success, and today, 40,000 colleagues visit the DTG website every year. The website displays the treatment guidelines developed by the International Association of Dental Traumatology as well as visualized with film animations to make it easy and appealing for the users. The dentist can connect to the DTG Copenhagen database to compare his/her case with similar cases from the database, providing guidance to emergency treatment. Furthermore, DTG provides prognosis estimates for each individual injury type, as well as prognosis estimates for teeth with combinations of fracture and luxation injuries. Today, the DTG is a nonprofit organization with the aim of improving the level of care for dental trauma patients worldwide. Therefore, the DTG team has decided to offer free access for students at all dental schools in India.

Background/aim: Primary teeth are frequently affected by traumatic dental injuries. Root fractures are rare and have a reported incidence of 2% in the primary dentition. Hence, there is limited evidence on this topic. This study aims to evaluate the risk of healing complications in primary teeth with root fracture and to identify possible sequelae in the permanent dentition following root fracture in the primary dentition.

Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis of a cohort of 53 patients with 74 root fractured primary teeth. The standard follow-up program included clinical and radiographic examination after 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year after the trauma and when the patient was 6 years of age. The following complications were registered: pulp necrosis (PN), pulp canal obliteration (PCO), ankylosis with replacement root resorption (ARR), infection-related root resorption (IRR), premature tooth loss (PTL), and repair-related resorption (RRR).

Statistics: The Kaplan-Meier and Aalen-Johansen estimators were employed. The level of significance was 5%.

Results: A total of 74 teeth were included. 42 teeth were extracted at the initial examination. Risks estimated after 3 years: PTL 45.9% [95% CI: 28.8-63.0], PCO 12.9% [95% CI: 2.3-23.4], PN 14.9% [95% CI: 3.9-25.9], RRR 2.6% [95% CI: 0.0-7.5]. No teeth showed ARR or IRR. All complications were diagnosed within the first year. Most common sequelae in the permanent dentition was demarcated opacities, with an estimated risk of 20% [95% CI: 8.2-41.3].

Conclusions: There is a low risk of healing complications following a root fracture in the primary dentition. Root fractures often result in early extraction of the coronal fragment. The remaining apical fragment will undergo a physiological resorption. Aside from opacities, there is a low risk of sequelae in the permanent dentition.

An accurate, clear, and easy-to-use traumatic dental injury (TDI) classification and definition system is a prerequisite for proper diagnosis, study, and treatment. However, more than 50 classifications have been used in the past. The ideal solution would be that TDIs are adequately classified within the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO). TDI classification provided by the 11th Revision of the ICD (ICD-11), released in 2018, and previous Revisions, failed to classify TDIs satisfactorily. Therefore, in December 2018, a proposal was submitted by Dr's Stefano Petti, Jens Ove Andreasen, Ulf Glendor, and Lars Andersson, to the ICD-11, asking for a change of the existing TDI classification. Proposal #2130 highlighted the TDI paradox, the fifth most frequent disease/condition neglected by most public health agencies in the world, and the limits of ICD-11 classification. Namely, injuries of teeth and periodontal tissues were located in two separate blocks that did not mention dental/periodontal tissues; infraction, concussion, and subluxation were not coded; most TDIs lacked description; and tooth fractures were described through bone fracture descriptions (e.g., comminuted, compression, and fissured fractures). These limitations led to TDI mis-reporting, under-reporting, and non-specific reporting by untrained non-dental healthcare providers. In addition, no scientific articles on TDIs, present in PubMed, Scopus, and Web-of-Science, used the ICD classification. Proposal #2130 suggested to adopt the Andreasen classification, the most widely acknowledged classification used in dental traumatology. The Proposal was reviewed by two WHO teams, two scientific Committees, one WHO Collaborating Center, and the Department of Non-Communicable Disease Prevention at WHO headquarters, and it underwent two voting sessions. In March 2022, the Andreasen classification was accepted integrally. A new entity was generated, called NA0D, "Injury of teeth or supporting structures" (https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en#/http%3a%2f%2fid.who.int%2ficd%2fentity%2f1413338122). Hopefully, this will contribute to increasing the public awareness, and the dental profession's management, of TDIs.

Aims and objectives: The aims of this study were to compare the anesthetic effect of a lidocaine/prilocaine (L/P) topical anesthetic with placebo on pain from needle sticks and to compare the anesthetic effect of the L/P topical anesthetic with an infiltrative anesthetic on pain from orthodontic miniscrew placement. Materials and methods: Pain elimination was analyzed from two interventions: (a) needle stick and (b) miniscrew insertion. When assessing pain from needle stick, one side of the mandible received 2.5% lidocaine/2.5% prilocaine topical anesthetic, and the other side received placebo. When evaluating pain from miniscrew placement, one side of the mandible received L/P topical anesthetic and the other side received infiltrative anesthetic. The findings were recorded on a Visual Analogue Scale after needle stick and after miniscrew placement. Subjective assessment was analyzed by a questionnaire. Results: The L/P topical anesthetic significantly eliminated the pain from needle stick (Mann–Whitney test of medians, 29.0 vs 0.0, respectively, p<0.001). However, the injection anesthetic eliminated the pain from the miniscrew placement better than the L/P topical anesthetic (Mann–Whitney test of medians, 0.0 vs 5.5, respectively, p<0.001). Eighty percent of the subjects felt more comfortable with L/P topical anesthetic than injection anesthetic. Pain from needle stick pain was reported to be the most uncomfortable part of the study. Conclusion: The L/P topical anesthetic efficiently eliminated pain from needle stick. The L/P topical anesthetic did not completely eliminate pain from miniscrew placement as the injection anesthesia, but it did reduce pain to tolerable levels. Clinical significance: L/P topical anesthetics can significantly eliminate pain from needle stick injections, and L/P topical anesthetics can reduce pain from orthodontic miniscrew placement to tolerable levels.

This study was undertaken to investigate the integration of titanium micro-implants installed in conjunction with previously dentin-grafted areas and to study the morphological appearance, mineral content, and healing pattern of xenogenic EDTA-conditioned dentin blocks and granules grafted to cavities in the tibial bone of rabbits. Demineralized and non-demineralized dentin blocks and granules from human premolars were implanted into cavities prepared on the lateral aspects of the tibias of rabbits. After a healing period of six months, micro-implants were installed at each surgical site. Histological examinations were carried out after 24 weeks. Characterization of the EDTA-conditioned dentin blocks was performed by means of light microscopy, dental X-rays, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). No implants were found to be integrated in direct contact with the dentin particles or blocks. On the EDTA-conditioned dentin surface, the organic marker elements C and N dominated, as revealed by EDX. The hydroxyapatite constituents Ca and P were almost absent on the dentin surface. No statistically significant difference was observed between the EDTA-conditioned and non-demineralized dentin, as revealed by BIC and BA. The bone-inductive capacity of the dentin material seemed limited, although demineralization by means of EDTA indicated higher BIC and BA values in conjunction with the installed implants in the area. A 12 h EDTA treatment did not fully decalcify the grafts, as revealed by X-ray analysis.

Background/Aims Traumatic dental injuries (TDI) are complex problems where lack of proper care may result in serious complications. The need to improve the management of TDI is a frequently addressed concern. Methods of improvement in their diagnosis and management are continuously evolving. The interactive Internet tool, the Dental Trauma Guide (DTG), helps to simplify diagnostic and management dilemmas. However, it is not a freely available tool. The aim of the current study was to assess the knowledge and diagnostic skills of undergraduate dental students with access to the DTG compared with students without such access, in order to validate and promote this tool in dental education. Materials and Methods Two groups of students were randomly selected where one group of final year dental undergraduate students were exposed to lectures, demonstrations, discussions and tutorials on the management of TDI according to the standard undergraduate curriculum in Sri Lanka. Another test group of 21 students were provided with access to DTG during their training in paediatric dentistry. At the end of the study period, students were assessed on their knowledge of TDI using MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions) and OSCEs (Objective Structured Clinical Examination), based on the DTG. Results The students with access to the DTG were more knowledgeable in providing the correct answers to three out of the seven OSCE questions. Evaluation based on the MCQs did not reveal a significant difference (p = .913). However, users of the DTG showed a statistically significant difference with better overall knowledge based on their answers (p = .028). Following this period of evaluation, all of the students were provided with access to the DTG to supplement their learning experience. Conclusion The Dental Trauma Guide is a useful supplementary tool for undergraduate students to arrive at a correct diagnosis and treatment plan for TDI.

The life and professional contributions to dental traumatology of Dr. Jens Ove Andreasen are described in terms of his research, writing, teaching, and leadership.