Dentists' role in treating facial injuries sustained in the 2008 earthquake in China: how dental professionals can contribute to emergency response.

BACKGROUND: A major earthquake struck Sichuan province, China, on May 12, 2008, and the authors were involved in the medical response to the disaster in Jiangyou City, an area hard-hit by the quake. In this article, they analyze data about the earthquake-related facial injuries and assess dentistry's role in treating them.

METHODS: This descriptive study included review of medical records for 4,582 patients with earthquake-related trauma at eight hospitals in Jiangyou, a city severely affected by the earthquake, for the day of the disaster and the 14 days immediately afterward.

RESULTS: Of the 4,582 patients, 408 (8.9 percent) sustained a total of 482 facial injuries. The dental team treated patients with facial injuries and others who needed care.

CONCLUSIONS: Facial injuries constitute a significant portion of earthquake-related trauma, and dentists therefore are an important part of the medical team that deals with such trauma. Dentists are a reliable force in the medical response to earthquakes and other disasters.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The dental team should play an important role in disaster response. Establishing oral and maxillofacial surgeon (OMS)/dentist reserves and active leagues that use OMSs' and general dentists' offices as bases can help improve disaster response.