Determinants of Traumatic Dental Injuries Among Adolescents in England A secondary analysis of the Children’s Dental Health Survey 2013

Abstract

Background: Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to traumatic dental injuries (TDI), which have a higher global prevalence in this age group. This study aimed to explore the associations between various demographic, clinical, behavioral, and socioeconomic risk factors with TDI among 12- and 15-year-old adolescents in England. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study and secondary data analysis of the Children’s Dental Health Survey 2013 (CDHS2013), using a nationally representative sample. A total of 2,126 adolescents were included after excluding cases with missing data (differences between the analytical sample and those with missing data were negligible). The analysis employed appropriate survey weights and examined demographic (age, sex, ethnicity), clinical (positive overjet, dental caries), behavioral (smoking, alcohol drinking), and socioeconomic factors (free school meals (FSM) eligibility , area deprivation, rural/urban classification) using multivariable logistic regression to model associations with TDI. Results: The overall prevalence of TDI in the sample was 10.98%. In the fully adjusted model, male adolescents were more likely to experience TDI compared to females (OR=0.64, 95% CI= 0.43-0.95). Adolescents who had never consumed alcohol had 37% lower odds of developing TDI (OR=0.63, 95% CI= 0.42-0.94). All other demographic and behavioral risk factors, as well as clinical and socioeconomic factors were not significantly associated with TDI. Conclusions: The study identified two key risk factors for TDI: being male and alcohol consumption. These findings highlight the importance of emphasizing on these risk factors while planning for preventive interventions and public health campaigns on TDI. Future research should adopt longitudinal designs to better assess the temporal relationship between these risk factors and TDI and include a broader range of variables for a more comprehensive understanding of TDI etiology.