{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,23]],"date-time":"2026-08-23T18:27:40Z","timestamp":1787509660712,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]],"date-time":"2026-05-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778803200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Healthcare"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: This retrospective study aimed to assess the sociodemographic and temporal factors associated with dental emergency presentations in adults from Arad county, Western Romania. Methods: We collected data on age, sex, origin area, presentation time, and diagnostic (macro)category in 510 adult patients. Diagnoses were grouped into four macrocategories: dental pathology (PD), endodontic and periapical pathology (EPP), odontogenic septic complications (OSC), and other emergencies (OE). Results: EPP was the predominant (macro)category, with most cases involving acute apical periodontitis and pulpitis. Age differed significantly across diagnostic categories (p &lt; 0.001), with PD patients being significantly younger than other groups (p &lt; 0.001). Increasing age was associated with higher odds of EPP (AOR = 1.06, p = 0.004) but lower odds of PD (AOR = 0.93, p &lt; 0.001). Rural origin was associated with increased odds of EPP (AOR = 1.49, p = 0.031) but decreased odds of OE (AOR = 0.39, p = 0.003). No significant associations were identified for sex. Most patients presented in the evening (46.47%) and on weekends, particularly Sundays (21%; n = 107) and Saturdays (16%; n = 82). Patient age differed significantly across time intervals (p = 0.016), with individuals seeking dental emergency care during morning and afternoon hours being significantly older than those presenting in the evening (p = 0.009) or nighttime (p = 0.047). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that observed sociodemographic and temporal differences may be associated with variations in the stage and type of dental pathology at presentation. Understanding these presentation patterns may help inform service organization and resource allocation in emergency dental care.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/healthcare14101366","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,18]],"date-time":"2026-05-18T08:56:27Z","timestamp":1779094587000},"page":"1366","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Demographic, Geographic, and Temporal Patterns of Adult Dental Emergency Presentations in Arad County, Western Romania"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3002-7656","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mihaela Cristina","family":"Negru","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of ENT, \u201cVictor Babe\u015f\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Eftimie Murgu Square No. 2, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andreea Mihaela","family":"Banta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of ENT, \u201cVictor Babe\u015f\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Eftimie Murgu Square No. 2, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mirela","family":"Voicu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Pharmacy, \u201cVictor Babe\u015f\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Eftimie Murgu Square No. 2, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Drago\u015f Vasile","family":"Nica","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center for Pharmaco-Toxicological Evaluations, Faculty of Pharmacy, \u201cVictor Babe\u015f\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Eftimie Murgu Square No. 2, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Research Center in Dental Medicine Using Conventional and Alternative Technologies, Department of Prostheses Technology and Dental Materials, Faculty of Dental Medicine, \u201cVictor Babe\u015f\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 9 Revolu\u021biei 1989 Blvd., 300070 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"The National Institute of Research\u2014Development for Machines and Installations Designed for Agriculture and Food Industry (INMA), Bulevardul Ion Ionescu de la Brad 6, 077190 Bucure\u0219ti, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ioana-Cristina","family":"Talpo\u0219-Niculescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Discipline of Orodental Diagnosis and Ergonomics, Faculty of Dental Medicine, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 9 Revolu\u021biei 1989 Blvd., 300070 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-0757-5998","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Iustin","family":"Olariu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, \u201cVasile Goldi\u015f\u201d Western University of Arad, 94\u201396 Revolu\u0163iei Blvd., 310025 Arad, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e6","DOI":"10.1002\/puh2.6","article-title":"Global status of oral health provision: Identifying the root of the problem","volume":"1","author":"Forde","year":"2022","journal-title":"Public Health Chall."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"249","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(19)31146-8","article-title":"Oral diseases: A global public health challenge","volume":"394","author":"Peres","year":"2019","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1016\/j.emc.2018.09.008","article-title":"Dental emergencies","volume":"37","author":"Hammel","year":"2019","journal-title":"Emerg. 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