Determinants of Traumatic Dental Injuries in Different Genders

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the role of aetiological factors of traumatic dental injuries (TDI) in different genders. Material and Methods: A random sample of 3,180 female and 3,324 male fifteen-to-eighteen-year-olds from all senior high schools in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, was selected. Each completed a supervised questionnaire and was examined using standard clinical procedures. Results: The participation rate was 90.4%. Those female adolescents that lived with at least a non-birth parent (p=0.026, OR=1.468, 95% CI=1.047, 2.058), that had a higher Adolescent Risk Taking Scale score (p=0.001, OR=1.072, 95% CI=1.030, 1.116), that had an overjet larger than five millimetres (p<0.001, OR=1.625, 95% CI=1.273, 2.074), or that showed inadequate lip coverage (p<0.001, OR=1.462, 95% CI=1.199, 1.784), were at greater risk of TDI. Contrarily, those male participants that had a family head with a secondary level of education (p=0.001, OR=1.372, 95% CI=1.130, 1.666), that had a higher Adolescent Risk Taking Scale score (p<0.001, OR=1.063, 95% CI=1.031, 1.097), that took more weekly hours of physical exercise (p=0.004, OR=1.020, 95% CI=1.006, 1.034), that had an overjet larger than five millimetres (p<0.001, OR=1.783, 95% CI=1.449, 2.194), or that showed inadequate lip coverage (p=0.016, OR=1.231, 95% CI=1.039, 1.457) had a higher risk of TDI. Conclusions: Males and females had different determinants of TDI. Family structure played a more relevant role in the occurrence of female adolescents' TDI, while family head's level of education and weekly hours of physical exercise were more important for the counterpart. In both genders, risk taking behaviour, overjet and lip coverage were associated with the occurrence of TDI.