The fifth most prevalent disease is being neglected by public health organisations

The progress towards reduction of global mortality has produced an epidemiological transition towards non-fatal diseases, which challenge the ability of the world's population to live in full health. Although traumatic dental injuries are not lethal, their treatment is more expensive (US$2 000 000–5 000 000 per million inhabitants) and time-consuming than that of all the other bodily injuries,1 making dental rehabilitation less likely among disadvantaged individuals.2 Since untreated traumatic dental injuries have a negative social, functional, and emotional effect in children and adolescents, differences in treatment of these injuries between children from different countries and social classes produce disparities in their quality of life.