International Journal of Dental Sciences

Authors
Enabulele Joan E, Uzamere Esther

Abstract
Objective: To characterise the occlusal traits of adult patients presenting with dental trauma as well as relate the number of teeth affected by the trauma and severity of the injury with the occlusal traits. Method: This was a questionnaire-based descriptive cross-sectional study carried out among adult patients who attended UBTH Dental centre between August 2014 and May 2017. Teeth were checked for any evidence of trauma and the number of teeth affected was recorded. The posterior occlusal trait was assessed using the Angle’s classification while the anterior occlusal traits involved assessment of the horizontal and vertical occlusal relationships. Data was analysed using SPSS version 21.0. The analysis done were frequencies, cross-tabulations, one-way ANOVA and linear regression with statistical significance set at P=0.05 Results: A total of 250 patients were recruited for the study. Majority (88.8%) of the participants had Angle’s Class I occlusion with over jet and open bite observed in 10.8% and 8.8% of the participants respectively There was statistically significant difference in the mean number of traumatised teeth with the different molar relationships (p=0.032), different horizontal occlusal relationships (p=0.049) and different vertical occlusal relationships (p=0.006), with the mean number of traumatised teeth among participants with Angle’s class III, over jet as well as open and deep bite significantly higher. There was no statistically significant relationship between the severity of injury and the various occlusal traits assessed. Conclusion: Occlusal traits are associated with the number of traumatised teeth in adult patients but not with the severity of injury occasioned by the traumatic incident.