A review of the IADT 2020 guidelines

Traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) are a relatively frequent occurrence, with roughly a third of adults experiencing a dental trauma at some time in their life. 1 TDIs may present to dental professionals working within primary or secondary care settings. Patients presenting at the time of acute injury will require immediate management and careful long term follow up. Patients may also present later reporting a history of TDI, with developing complications and onward management required. To support dental care professionals, the International Association of Dental Traumatology’s (IADT) Guidelines are available globally as a standardised tool to aid the assessment, management and follow up of dental trauma. These easy to access guidelines were updated in 2020 with four distinct publications: General Introduction, 1 Fractures and Luxations, 2 Avulsion of Permanent Teeth, 3 and Injuries in the Primary Dentition. 4 The current guidelines represent the best evidence based on available literature and expert opinion. 1 This paper aims to support dental professionals by specifically highlighting and describing updates in guidance, using the 2020 IADT published guidelines. By incorporating the 2020 guidelines into our everyday practice we aim to provide the most appropriate, standardised care, based on the highest level of available evidence to our patients. The full published guidelines are available free online via the IADT website.