A multicenter study on dental trauma in permanent incisors among Special Olympics athletes in Europe and Eurasia

Objectives: Special Olympics athletes, as part of the population with intellectual disabilities, are reported to be more vulnerable to dental injuries due to poor lip closure, slow response to environmental obstacles, oral pathologic reflexes or dental features. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of dental trauma among Special Olympics athletes in countries of Europe and Eurasia. Material and Methods: A retrospective longitudinal multi centre study was performed with data collected through standardized Special Smiles screening forms and procedures from consenting 15.941 athletes participating in the annual Special Olympics held in 49 countries from Europe and Eurasia between 2007 and 2012. The data was compiled in an Excel worksheet and transferred to an SPSS data file in order to be analysed. Results: A total of 2190 athletes presented dental injury (13,02 %) with a std. deviation. of 5,02%. No significant differences (p= 0,136) in mean dental injury between age groups (One-way ANOVA test) were found. Conclusions: The present data suggest that dental trauma is an actual problem among individuals with special needs. The distribution of prevalence among the different countries had a remarkable variability, but it is evident that a relatively high proportion of this population is in need of a dental trauma preventive program. Clinical Relevance: Indication on an European large scale that dental trauma is a problem in the special needs population.

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