Dento-alveolar and maxillofacial injuries: a 5-year multi-center study. Part 1: general vs facial and dental trauma.

Maxillofacial injuries are a significant cause of morbidity and demand meticulously planned treatment. The aim of this present multi-center study was to evaluate the occurrence of dento-alveolar and maxillofacial injuries over a 5-year period. A retrospective cohort study of data from the Israel Trauma Registry was conducted for the years 2000-2004. The registry includes all trauma patients admitted and hospitalized due to an injury. Of the 111,010 hospitalized trauma patients, 5886 (5.3%) were diagnosed with maxillofacial or dental injuries. The main causes of injuries for hospitalized trauma patients were falls (48.1%) and motor vehicle accidents (25.2%), while the major causes of facial and dental injuries were vehicle accidents (39.6%, 56.8%, respectively) and falls (32.1%, 26.7%, respectively). High-risk age groups for dental and facial trauma were 10-18 years and 19-28 years, respectively, while for other trauma, ages for the greatest risk ranged from 0 to 9 years and over 59 years. Males were injured two to three times more frequently than females. A better understanding of the etiology of maxillofacial and dental injuries and identifying the high-risk groups should lead to appropriate prevention programs and treatment methods.