Retrospective Study on the Flow and Characteristics of Dental Emergency Patients in Chosun University Hospital

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study is to assess the importance of proper treatment timing for dental emergency patients by characterizing current patient care in the emergency room. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective chart review of 3,211 patients who visited the Chosun University Hospital's dental emergency department (Gwangju, Korea) was conducted from January 1, 2011 to May 31, 2014. Information regarding age, gender, onset date, main causes, and diagnoses were collected and analyzed. The main causes were divided into six categories assault, household/play, sports, traffic, work, and others. RESULT: Emergency visits were more common for men (69%), and the ratio of males to females was 2.21 On average, the major cause was household/play (49.8%), followed by others (18.9%), traffic (16.6%), assault (9.1%), sports (2.9%), and work (2.6%). The most frequent diagnosis on average was dental trauma with 82.4%, followed by infection (10.7%), others (4.7%), and bleeding (2.2%). CONCLUSION: The main reasons for visits to the dental emergency department are dental trauma, dental infection, bleeding, and others. The most frequent reason for dental emergency patients to visit the emergency department was dental trauma (82.4%).