The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and type of accidents that resulted in traumatic injuries to the permanent dentition of 12-year-old school children in Florianópolis, Brazil. A dental trauma cross-sectional survey was carried out through clinical examination of upper and lower permanent incisors and interviews with 307 12-year-old school children enrolled in public primary schools. Intra-examiner diagnosis variability was good, measured by kappa values on tooth-by-tooth basis. The prevalence of dental injury was 18.9%. There was no statistical difference in the prevalence between boys and girls (P = 0.103). The main types of accidents that resulted in dental injuries were falls and collisions with objects or people. It can be concluded that the prevalence of dental injuries in Florianópolis, Brazil is high and they have a great potential to be considered an emerging public health problem.
