OBJECTIVE: To analyze the frequency epidemiological description of mandibular fractures correlating gender, age, etiological factors, anatomic location, and types of fracture's traces. METHODS: A retrospective survey of the medical history of 883 patients with facial fractures, attended at the Buco-Maxilo-Facial Surgery and Traumatology Service of the Hospital Geral de Vila Penteado in São Paulo (São Paulo - Brazil), in a period of 3 years (from January 2004 to December 2006). RESULTS: From 883 patients evaluated, 270 presented mandibular fracture (30,5%). The male gender was the most affected (76,7%) in the age of 20 to 29 years (33,0%), the most frequent etiological factor was the car accident (35,2%), the body of the mandible was the most affected anatomic location (47,4%) and the single traces prevailed (76,7%). CONCLUSION: The majority of the fractures were simple, located in the body of the mandible, and higligted in males, aged from 20 t0 29 years, and caused by car accident.
Mandibular fractures; Sex distribution; Age distribution; Traumatology
