Direct and indirect time spent on care of dental trauma: a 2-year prospective study of children and adolescents

The aim was to account for the total time spent by professional care-givers (direct time) and by patients and companions engaged as support and help ( indirect time) to treat and otherwise attend to children and adolescents wi th dental trauma to primary and permanent teeth. The study was based on a r andom sample of 192 children and adolescents with dental traumas reported t o an insurance company and prospectively followed up by telephone interview s over a period of 2 years after the trauma episode. On average, direct tim e represented 16% of total time for all visits for dental trauma to permane nt teeth and 11% for trauma to primary teeth. The most extensive type of in direct time was transport time, which took up 30% of the total time spent o n injuries to permanent teeth and 36% for injuries to primary teeth. Multip le regression analysis of the impact of dental and demographic injury varia bles on the time variables showed that complicated trauma was associated wi th extended time, direct as well as indirect, for permanent and primary tee th injuries. Our estimate of the average relative increase in total time sp ent by patients and companions in cases of complicated injury to permanent teeth was 117% (95% confidence interval [CI], 52-211) for patients and 112% (95% CI, 42-217) for companions. For transport time a strong predictor was access to a dental clinic near the place of residence. Lack of access coul d extend the average transport time by 180% (95% CI, 80-335) for patients a nd 163% (95% CI, 67-317) for their companions in cases of injuries to prima ry teeth.