Guest Editorial

Abstract

Welcome to The Management of Dental Trauma, a supplement of the Australian Dental Journal. I invite all dentists – no matter whether you are a general dentist or a specialist to read this supplement as it provides an ideal opportunity for you to update your knowledge in this important area of dental practice. Dental traumatology is unique in dentistry as it spans all of the specialty disciplines – some may be involved in the early stages to provide emergency care whilst others may be involved later to provide follow-up care. Trauma also involves all age groups and all patient population groups, plus public health aspects to study its incidence, prevalence, prevention, etc. – so it is truly relevant to every dental practitioner. Although a significant number of dental trauma cases present with relatively minor injuries to a single tooth, there are also many cases that have multiple injuries to several teeth plus the soft tissues and bones. Hence, this supplement has been developed to review dental trauma from a broader approach to help readers understand the tissue responses so they can apply the principles of management to each situation. The approach was not to repeat what can be found in various textbooks and other journal papers which provide valuable information about specific injuries and their management. Dealing with dental trauma is somewhat similar to other medical emergencies. Dental practitioners should maintain their knowledge and skills to provide basic life support for a person who collapses or has an accident – we train for this regularly and keep updated with the latest recommendations so we can help others in need. Likewise, we should regularly update our knowledge and skills for dental trauma cases as they usually present as emergencies and we need to be ready to provide the best treatment possible. This supplement provides an ideal opportunity to do so. I hope you enjoy and benefit from it. Thank you to all the authors, the reviewers, the Journal's Editor, Professor Mark Bartold am, and especially to the Senior Production Editor, Helen Pontikis, for all you have done to produce this supplement.