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Background: The constant improvement in the quality of individual life and growing interest in sporting activities have resulted in an increased use of sport in free time at amateur level. As a result, sports injuries have steadily increased since the late 1980s. The aim of this study was to illustrate our experience in the treatment of injuries in this particular category., Methods: The series included patients admitted to the Division of Maxillofacial Surgery at Turin University over a 15-year period. A total of 379 maxillofacial fractures caused by sporting activities were recorded out of a total of 2925 cases. The factors examined included: the type of sport, the age and sex of the patient, the cause of the injury, the site of the lesion and the treatment., Results: Sports injuries represent 12.9% of total injuries. The mean age of patients was 32.1 years and the male/female ratio was 5.6:1. A range of 36 sports were examined, but football (43.5%), cycling (23.4%) and skiing (13.9%) represented 80.9%. The injuries observed involved different areas of the face with a prevalence of the orbital/zygomatic complex (47.4%) compared to the mandibular region (42%). The most important forms of treatment and preventive therapy were examined and a comparison was made of their incidence., Conclusions: The authors conclude by emphasizing the importance of prevention in sports injuries.

Background: Osteoporosis is a major public health problem, responsible for a great number of fractures, associated with devastating costs to society. In addition, oral bone loss has an enormous impact on the health quality of life of patients, affecting up to 90% of elderly individuals. The aim of this work was to elaborate an animal model of mandibular and maxillary osteoporosis in which to evaluate bone loss and possible prevention by pharmacological treatment., Methods: Six Sprague-Dawley rats were gonadectomized and treated with clodronate (male) or 17 beta-estradiol (female) for two months. Six gonadectomized and six sham-operated rats of both sexes were treated with placebo. The mandible and maxilla, fixed and methacrylate embedded, were serially sectioned, microradiographed and processed for histomorphometric analysis., Results: Gonadectomy did not modify the amount of compact and trabecular bone in mandibles of rats of either sex, treated or not with clodronate or estrogens, compared to sham-operated rats. Compared to sham-operated rats, a 10-25% increase of bone porosity was found in the maxilla of ovariectomized rats, either receiving estrogens or not, while in male rats no difference among groups could be evidenced., Conclusions: The conclusion is drawn that rats, due to their peculiar masticatory habits yielding huge loads on oral bones, do not represent a suitable experimental model for studying oral bone loss related to skeletal osteoporosis. In order to worsen oral osteopenia it would be mandatory to combine gonadectomy with a mechanical unloading (i.e. after molar extraction) of mandibular or maxillary bone.

One hundred cases of facial mass fractures observed in the period April-September 1988 have been assessed using a clinico-anamnestic type investigation. Among trauma patients there is a prevalence of male patients aged between 10 and 30. Fractures located at the middle third and mandible occur in a practically equivalent number. Most traumas are the result of road accidents, following by falls. A good degree of correlation was observed between trauma aetiology and dynamics on the one hand and type and gravity of fractures on the other. Direct fractures, with greatest comminution of fragments prevail in high speed traumas; indirect fractures are most frequent in low speed traumas (cyclists and accidental).