Interventions for treating traumatised permanent front teeth: luxated (dislodged) teeth.

BACKGROUND

Dental trauma is common especially in children and young adults. One group of dento-alveolar injuries is classified as luxation. This group includes a subgroup of severe injuries where the tooth is displaced from its original position. These injuries are classified further by the direction in which the tooth has been displaced, namely: intrusion, extrusion and lateral luxation.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the effects of a range of interventions for treating displaced luxated permanent front teeth.

SEARCH METHODS

Search strategies were developed for MEDLINE via OVID and revised appropriately for the following databases: Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register (to 20 August 2012), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2012, Issue 8), MEDLINE via OVID (1966 to August 2012), EMBASE via Elsevier (1974 to August 2012), and LILACS via BIREME (1982 to August 2012). Dissertations, Theses and Abstracts were searched as were reference lists from articles. There were no language restrictions.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials of treatment interventions for displaced luxated permanent front teeth. Included trials had to have a minimum follow-up period of 12 months.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently and in duplicate assessed the eligibility of all reports identified in the searches. Authors were contacted for additional information where required.

MAIN RESULTS

No randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials were found.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We found no randomised or quasi-randomised trials of interventions to treat displaced luxated permanent front teeth. Current clinical guidelines are based on available information from case series studies and expert opinions. Randomised controlled trials in this area of dental trauma are required to robustly identify the benefits of different treatment strategies.