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Injuries resulting from accidents and violence occupy a key place in the current epidemiological scenario. The head and face are one of the main sites of lesions from external causes, especially dental and oral injuries. This article aims to present the epidemiological profile of emergency care for dental and oral lesions from external causes. The study used data from the Surveillance System for Violence and Accidents (VIVA) for the years 2006 and 2007. There were a total of 106,075 emergency visits involving external causes, of which 939 (~1%) presented dental and oral lesions. There were a majority or large proportions of males (65.5%), children < 10 years (44.3%), black individuals (66%), and individuals with low schooling (45.9%). High proportions of the injuries occurred at home (48.3%) or on public byways (30%). Frequent characteristics were cuts or puncture wounds (63.3%) and lesions resulting from falls (43%), traffic accidents (19.9%), and physical assault (13%).

Background: The study presents a geographical analysis of dental trauma in a population of 12 and 15 year-old school-children, in the city of Curitiba, Brazil (n = 1581), using a database obtained in the period 2005-2006. The main focus is to analyze dental trauma using a geographic information system as a tool for integrating social, environmental and epidemiological data., Methods: Geostatistical analysis of the database and thematic maps were generated showing the distribution of dental trauma cases according to Curitiba's Health Districts and other variables of interest. Dental trauma spatial variation was assessed using a generalized additive model in order to identify and control the individual risk-factors and thus determine whether spatial variation is constant or not throughout the Health Districts and the place of residence of individuals. In addition, an analysis was made of the coverage of dental trauma cases taking the spatial distribution of Curitiba's primary healthcare centres., Results: The overall prevalence of dental trauma was 37.1%, with 53.1% in males and 46.7% in females. The spatial analysis confirms the hypothesis that there is significant variation in the occurrence of dental trauma, considering the place of residence in the population studied (Monte Carlo test, p = 0,006). Furthermore, 28.7% of cases had no coverage by the primary healthcare centres., Conclusions: The effect of the place of residence was highly significant in relation to the response variable. The delimitation of areas, as a basis for case density, enables the qualification of geographical territories where actions can be planned based on priority criteria. Promotion, control and rehabilitation actions, applied in regions of higher prevalence of dental trauma, can be more effective and efficient, thus providing healthcare refinement.

The purpose of this study was to build epidemiological indicators on the experience of dental trauma in 12-year-old schoolchildren in the city of Curitiba, Brazil, exploring its geographical and population distributions. A geographic information system (GIS) was used, built by means of ArcView GIS 3.2 software and geographical databases of streets and districts defined within the boundaries of the city of Curitiba, provided by Curitiba's Institute of Research and Public Planning (IPPUC). The database used in the study was compiled based on an epidemiological survey undertaken in 1998 on a sample of 2126 schoolchildren 12 years old, residing in outlying urban suburbs distributed over 29 micro-areas in the city of Curitiba. The cases selected for this study were those with a history of dental trauma, thereby comprising a subsample of 327 schoolchildren. The spatial location of the schoolchildren's homes enabled the events to be visualized on a cartographic basis. The variables of gender, aetiology of the trauma and areas of substandard living conditions were included in the analysis and construction of thematic maps, thus making possible a descriptive analysis of the spatial distribution of dental trauma in the city. Intra-urban differentials were identified in the prevalence of dental trauma in 12-year-old schoolchildren in Curitiba. A greater concentration of occurrences was observed in the eastern region of the city, especially in areas of substandard living conditions. It was possible to conclude that socio-environmental and geophysical factors are associated with the determination of dental trauma in the city of Curitiba, pointing to the need for the development of public policies especially aimed at areas and populations at greater risk.

This paper is concerned with developing methods for assessing the potential impact of healthy public policies on health outcomes, particularly on dental trauma. The hypothesis is that in deprived areas of Curitiba, Brazil, there would be a lower prevalence of dental trauma in 12-year-old schoolchildren related to different degrees of implementation of healthy public policies. Fourteen socio-environmental variables gathered from 29 deprived areas were factor-analysed and three principal components (PCA) extracted: physical environment, public social policies, and social cohesion. Individual clinical data on dental trauma were collected for 2,126 children from public schools in the areas. Rank correlation indicated that the relationship between components' scores and dental trauma was statistically significant. The PCA scores explained 42% of the variance for dental trauma.