Maternal Stress and Behavioral and Clinical Factors Associated with Dental Trauma in Schoolchildren.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate associations between traumatic dental injury (TDI) and maternal stress and demographic, behavioral, and clinical characteristics of schoolchildren.

Methods: A cross-sectional investigation was conducted involving 396 eight- to 11- year-old schoolchildren in the city of Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Maternal stress and demographic and behavioral (breastfeeding and non-nutritive sucking habits) factors were evaluated using a questionnaire. Overjet and TDI were recorded by a dentist who underwent training and a calibration exercise. Hierarchically-adjusted Poisson regression models were employed to determine factors associated with TDI.

Results: In the final regression model, the prevalence of TDI was 75 percent higher among schoolchildren who were breastfed for less than six months (prevalence ratio [PR]=1.75; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.16 to 2.66), 72 percent higher among those who engaged in finger-/thumb-sucking after three years of age (PR=1.72; 95% CI=1.16 to 2.56) and 91 percent among those with overjet greater than three mm (PR=1.91; 95% CI=1.29 to 2.84).

Conclusions: Breastfeeding duration, finger-/thumb-sucking and increased overjet were associated with TDI. These factors were aggravated by maternal stress, but it lost its significance in the multivariate analysis.