Prevalence of Dental Trauma in Pan American Games Athletes

Objective: The aim of this cross-sectional epidemiological survey was to assess the prevalence of dental trauma in athletes from 42 countries competing at the most recent Pan American Games (PAN) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2007.

Methods: The study was approved by the appropriate institutional review board. The examiners participated in standardization and calibration training sessions before the field phase began. Invitations were sent to >5,500 participating athletes representing 41 sports and to the Medical Committee of the Pan American Sports Organization before and during the Games. A convenient sample of 409 athletes, mean age of 24.4 ± 5.3 years, with 55% males, was recruited. After signing an informed consent, all athletes answered a questionnaire. Data were collected at the clinical examination and were recorded on a specific form, according to the Ellis classification.

Results: The prevalence of dental trauma among the athletes was 49.6% with no gender based difference. Most of the injuries were related to activities during training or competition. The sports with higher prevalence were wrestling (83.3%); boxing (73.7%); basketball (70.6%) and karate (60%). Swimming, track and field, volleyball, and weightlifting were the sports with the least dental trauma. The most common injury was enamel fracture (39.8%); whereas root fracture was the least common (0.4%). The teeth most affected were the upper central incisors (N=113 affected teeth), followed by the lower central incisors (N=19), and upper and lower lateral incisors (N=18 each).

Conclusion: Among the athletes examined at the XV PAN of 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil nearly half had experienced dental trauma related to sports activities. In some sports where the use of mouthguards is not mandatory for the athletes, the frequency of trauma was found to be high.