Assessment of time taken to treat dental trauma in Nigerian children.

AIM: To assess the clinical time (diagnosis and treatment times) to manage traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) in children attending paediatric dental clinics in Nigeria. STUDY DESIGN: Cross sectional observational pilot study on children presenting at four government hospitals in South West Nigeria over a 3-month period. METHODS: Dental injury was classified using the method recommended by Andreasen et al. [2003]. A standardized protocol was followed and the details of the diagnosis time, treatment time and total clinical time for management of different traumatic injuries to the primary and permanent dentition were recorded and calculated on a data collection form. RESULTS: There were 73 dental injuries in 39 children. For the primary dentition, complicated crown fracture had the highest average total treatment time namely 76.0±48.1 minutes as well as the highest average number of visits (2.6 visits). More time was spent manageing the same level of injury in the permanent dentition than in the primary dentition. For the permanent dentition, extrusive luxation injury had the highest average total treatment time (103.3±11.5 minutes). CONCLUSION: The clinical time for management of dental injuries in children was relatively high and varied by type of injury.