Prevalence and causes of oral injuries in a population of Canadian adults aged 18 to 50 years--a brief communication.

<bold>Objective: </bold>To determine the prevalence and causes of injuries to the mouth and teeth among adults aged 18 to 50 years in Ontario, Canada.<bold>Methods: </bold>2001 individuals in the target age range participated in a telephone interview survey based on random digit dialling.<bold>Results: </bold>Overall, 15.5% of subjects reported a history of injury with 5.4% having multiple episodes of injury. One third of the injuries occurred in adulthood. The majority (85.0%) with a history of trauma reported damage to the teeth and of these, 26.0% broke one or more teeth, 25.4% reported one or more teeth being knocked out and 6.5% reported displacement of teeth. The most common cause of injury was playing sports, followed by collisions and falls. Violence accounted for 10.0% of the injuries reported. The causes of injury varied according to gender, education and the age at which the injury occurred.<bold>Conclusion: </bold>Oral and dental injuries occur throughout the lifespan, although the causes appear to vary according to the age at which they happen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]