National guidelines for the prevention and clinical management of dental trauma in individuals during their developmental age

Annali di Igiene are happy to publish - in issue 6, 2013 - the "National Guidelines for the Prevention and Clinical Management of Dental Trauma in Individuals during their Developmental Age", which have been prepared by a multidisciplinary team of experts on behalf of the italian Ministry of Health and revised by the WHO Centre "Epidemiology and Community Dentistry" at the Medical School of the State University of Milan. The need for such Guidelines emerges from the fact that the application of correct procedures after a dental trauma is presently far from being satisfactory, only 4% of the cases being managed correctly according to the literature. Actually, compared to the increasing cases of dental trauma due to the growing dynamism of the daily life, especially for the youngsters, many emergency structures are not ready to gather the full set of experts who only are in the position, working together, to obtain a successful aesthetic and functional recovery of the patient. The Guidelines consider the problem gradually, starting from the necessary psychological approach to the traumatized young patient, continuing with the complex diagnostic procedures and the correct therapeutic interventions, ending with the planning of the necessary follow-up, designed to guarantee a correct evolution of the trauma toward the full recovery.