**1. Introduction**

Dental Therapists and Oral Hygienists are members of the dental team and dental professions who receive training in Traumatic Dental Injuries (TDI). However, many are not confident enough to provide treatment for patients presenting with TDI in the oral health setting. They are the first in line of response to provide treatment before referring to dentists and dental specialists. Anecdotal evidence indicates that the inability to treat TDI could be due to the fact that at times dental health care team members are not able to determine the source of TDI [1–3]. Based on this it is important to develop guidelines that will assist dental professionals to manage patients who present with TDI. [1, 2] It has been indicated that there is a need for treatment guidelines when oral health professionals provide treatment for TDI such as avulsed teeth [2]. Providing treatment guidelines will aid in ensuring that oral health care is delivered efficiently and in the best care possible [2, 3].

The consequences of not determining the source of TDI could at times lead to a failure in referring patients for further management. Knowledge of the appropriate treatments and management of patient presenting with TDI can reduce stress and anxiety for both patients and the dental professionals [3]. Therefore, it is important to promote awareness and recent information among the dental professionals as well as groups at risk regarding prevention and emergency treatment modalities. Correct application of these techniques immediately after the traumatic injury should improve both short- and long-term outcomes [1].

### **2. Rationale**

Qualified Dental Therapists and Oral Hygienists have to develop lifelong learning to ensure optimal care for each patient. Part of the lifelong learning entails the ability to manage patients who present with TDIs. It is therefore important that there are guidelines established to improve their oral health practice [2, 3].

Objectives for professional practice include the ability to identify and care for the needs of patients with health problems that affect their oral hygiene [4]. Dental trauma has an impact on the oral hygiene of the patient thus it is critical for Dental Therapists and Oral Hygienists to be able to manage patients who present with those conditions [4–6]. This will enable them to maintain competency in their daily practice, apply scientific advances from new research, and provide patient care that is evidence based.

Based on the brief rationale it is therefore important to develop the objectives indicated in the next section for this book chapter.

#### **2.1 Objectives**

The objectives of this article are to:


#### **2.2 Methods**

A computer data base research method was implemented to collate information for this chapter. Information was gathered through applied literature research articles from Google Scholar, Science Direct, Web of Science, Scopus, EBSOhost and PubMed.

#### **3. Prevalence of traumatic dental injuries**

Trauma has been reported as a major disease burden in lower- and middleincome countries such as South Africa [5, 6]. TDI often occur in association with and contribute significantly to other bodily injuries. With more than one billion people having experienced TDI, these injuries are increasingly becoming of great dental public health concern because of the associated negative impact on economic *The Role of the Dental Therapists and Oral Hygienists in the Immediate Response… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99631*

productivity and the quality of life of affected children and their families [5]. Children sustain 30% and 22% injuries to the primary and the permanent dentition, respectively [5]. It has been estimated that 50% of TDIs occur prior to children leaving school [5].

There is scarcity of data on the prevalence of TDIs in South Africa and Africa at large. A report indicated that there is a TDI prevalence of 16% in primary school children while another report indicated TDI prevalence of 6.4% in children aged 11–13 years old in South Africa [6, 7]. The prevalence of dental trauma varies from 6.1 to 62.1% in pre-school children and from 5.3 to 21% in schoolchildren [6, 7]. A recent review study which sought to estimate the global frequency and incident rates for TDI reported a prevalence of 15.2% and 22.7% in permanent and primary dentition, respectively [6]. Furthermore, the study reported a prevalence of 18.1% in 12-year-old children and an incidence rate of 2.82 per 100 person-years [7].

The variation in the prevalence of TDIs may be attributed to various factors including the study design, geographical location, different diagnostic criteria as determined by the trauma classification used, behavioral and cultural diversity [8].

Soft tissue injuries such as luxations and subluxations are more frequently seen in primary dentition while fractures of the crown involving enamel and dentine are seen more commonly in permanent dentition [8]. The most commonly injured teeth in primary mainly from falls in children and sport activities in adolescents.

The strongest association has been demonstrated between TDIs and gender as well as TDIs and age. Males experience TDIs more frequently than males with the ratio ranging from 1.3:1 to 2.5:1 [9, 10]. The ratio has however been decreasing over the years as more females participate in sport activities. TDIs are mainly sustained in young adults, preschool and school going children. Twenty five percent of school going children experience TDIs as a result of physical and behavioral factors [9–11].
