Orofacial injuries from powered scooters in United States emergency departments: a serial cross-sectional analysis of national estimates

Maria Fernanda Escalante Freitez and Mafefreitez@gmail.com

SAP Dentistry, 2025

Abstract: Introduction: Electric scooters have expanded rapidly in United States cities, and emergency department visits for injuries caused by these devices have risen in parallel, yet the national burden of orofacial injuries is not well quantified. Methods: Serial cross-sectional analysis of the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, 2018-2024. Powered-scooter visits were identified with product codes 5022 and 5042, excluding narratives indicating other devices; body parts 76 (face) and 88 (mouth) defined orofacial injuries and diagnosis 60 defined dental injury. National estimates and 95% confidence intervals used NEISS weights with Taylor-linearized variance; the annual percent change was estimated by variance-weighted log-linear regression. Results: From 2018 to 2024, estimated orofacial visits rose from 2,779 to 27,838, an approximately tenfold increase (annual percent change, 33.8%; p = 0.002). The percentage of powered-scooter visits involving the face or mouth rose from 16.7% to 23.6%. Adults aged 18-34 years accounted for 45.1% of the 80,370 estimated orofacial visits, followed by those aged 35-54 years (26.3%). Dental injuries represented 10.0% of visits and 9.1% required hospitalization. Conclusions: Powered-scooter-related orofacial injuries increased approximately tenfold between 2018 and 2024, concentrated in adults aged 18-34 years, with one in ten injuries involving the teeth.

Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cwf:dentar:dent2025161

DOI: 10.62486/dent2025161

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