Pediatric Dental Trauma: Acute Care, Rehabilitation, and Life-Course Impact

Traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) are among the most common oral conditions affecting children and adolescents and represent a substantial global public health burden. International meta-analyses suggest that more than one billion people worldwide have experienced a traumatic dental injury, with pooled prevalence estimates of 22.7% in the primary dentition and 15.2% in the permanent dentition. In pediatric populations, dental trauma is not limited to the emergency visit; it can have lasting consequences for pain, function, esthetics, oral health-related quality of life, psychosocial well-being, family stress, and future oral development. Trauma to the primary dentition may also result in sequelae affecting the developing permanent teeth.At the same time, the field of pediatric dental traumatology is evolving rapidly. Guideline-based emergency management remains central for avulsion, luxation injuries, crown and root fractures, alveolar trauma, and associated soft-tissue injuries. Recent advances also highlight the growing role of biologically driven and digitally enabled care, including regenerative endodontics for traumatised immature permanent teeth, improved monitoring through pulp vitality testing, AI-supported assessment, teledentistry for pediatric dental emergencies, and digital workflows such as 3D printing for splint design and restorative rehabilitation.This Research Topic aims to bring together clinicians, translational scientists, epidemiologists, public health researchers, and health services researchers working across the full continuum of pediatric dental trauma care — from acute management and short-term stabilization to rehabilitation, prevention, and life-course outcomes. We are especially interested in submissions that connect early decision-making with later consequences for growth, development, esthetics, psychosocial well-being, access to care, and future treatment burden.We also particularly welcome contributions addressing the international epidemiology of pediatric dental trauma, including large-scale statistical studies, cross-national comparisons, burden-of-disease analyses, and research exploring social, behavioral, environmental, and health-system determinants of injury patterns and outcomes. A stronger global evidence base is essential to inform prevention strategies, improve equity in care, and provide clinicians and researchers with a clearer worldwide overview of pediatric dental trauma.In addition, this Research Topic seeks to highlight the importance of education, awareness, and prevention as upstream determinants of trauma outcomes. Improved public knowledge and professional training can play a critical role in reducing trauma incidence, strengthening first-aid responses, and improving timely, appropriate management in children and adolescents.Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:• Emergency triage and evidence-based management of avulsion, luxation, crown fractures, root fractures, alveolar injuries, and soft-tissue trauma in primary teeth, immature permanent teeth, and mature permanent teeth.• International epidemiology and statistical studies of pediatric dental trauma, including prevalence, incidence, risk factors, temporal trends, cross-country comparisons, inequalities, and burden-of-disease analyses.• New diagnostic approaches, including pulp vitality testing, digital monitoring, AI-assisted classification or prognosis, and teledentistry for urgent pediatric dental assessment.• Regenerative endodontics, pulp preservation, biomaterials, splinting, digital dentistry, 3D-printed appliances, restorative rehabilitation, and esthetic or prosthetic strategies after trauma.• Longitudinal outcomes after dental trauma, including root resorption, ankylosis, discoloration, developmental disturbances, sequelae in permanent successors following trauma to primary teeth, orthodontic implications, and transition to adult care.• Patient-centered and life-course outcomes, including oral health-related quality of life, psychosocial burden, mental health, family experience, treatment duration, adherence, and cost of care.• Public awareness and first-aid knowledge regarding dental trauma management among parents, teachers, coaches, school nurses, caregivers, and community members.• Educational interventions and knowledge translation, including studies assessing the effectiveness of school-based programs, digital learning tools, mobile applications, community campaigns, and other strategies to improve early recognition and response to dental trauma.• Professional education and training, including research on training models for dentists, physicians, emergency personnel, pediatricians, nurses, and allied health professionals involved in the care of children with dental trauma.• Prevention and implementation research, including sports-related dental injuries, mouthguards, school-based prevention, education of parents, teachers, coaches, physicians, and emergency teams, and models of care for rural or underserved populations and children with special health care needs.We welcome Original Research, Systematic Reviews, Meta-Analyses, Clinical Studies, Case Studies, Brief Research Reports, Methods, and Perspectives that advance evidence-based, interdisciplinary, and child-centered care. By bringing together acute care, rehabilitation, prevention, epidemiology, education, and long-term outcomes, this Research Topic seeks to define what high-quality pediatric dental trauma care should look like — from the emergency visit through adolescence and into adult oral health — while also providing a meaningful global perspective on the burden and management of these injuries. Topic editors: Mine Koruyucu, Micaela Costacurta, Guangyun Lai, Raghad Hashim Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79169/pediatric-dental-trauma-acute-care-rehabilitation-and-life-course-impact