E-Scooter and E-Bike Injuries Dentists Need to Recognize

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Categories: Oral Surgery;
Posted: July 20, 2026
By Howard Farran, DDS, MBA

E-Scooter and E-Bike Injuries Dentists Need to Recognize

The rise of electric scooters and electric bicycles has created a new pattern of trauma that dentists are increasingly likely to see. Emergency physicians and oral and maxillofacial surgeons across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Israel are reporting the same injuries. Fractured incisors, luxations, avulsions, alveolar fractures, mandibular fractures, orbital injuries, facial lacerations, and traumatic brain injuries.

This is more than a collection of dramatic anecdotes. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission report, Micromobility Products Related Deaths, Injuries, and Hazard Patterns, 2017 to 2023, estimated 406,500 emergency department treated injuries involving e-scooters, e-bikes, and hoverboards during that period, along with 305 reported deaths.

Raw numbers require context. More riders naturally produce more injuries. Exposure adjusted research remains limited, so the evidence cannot tell us precisely how dangerous every trip is compared with walking or conventional cycling. What makes the concern credible is the remarkable consistency of the findings across national registries, systematic reviews, trauma centers, and biomechanical studies.

E-scooters and e-bikes should not be treated as the same vehicle.

E-scooters appear especially hazardous to the face and teeth. The rider stands upright on a narrow platform above a short wheelbase. Small wheels can catch on potholes, curbs, pavement seams, gravel, and rail tracks that a bicycle may cross without difficulty. When the front wheel stops or turns suddenly, the scooter slows faster than the rider. The body continues forward, often over the handlebars, and the face, chin, mouth, wrists, and forearms absorb the impact.

The Impact of E-Scooter Injuries, a Systematic Review of 34 Studies, examined 5,705 patients and found that falls, rather than motor vehicle collisions, caused most injuries. Upper extremity fractures were common, but head and facial trauma appeared repeatedly. Helmet use was poor, alcohol was frequently involved, and the typical injured rider was a young adult rather than a frail older patient.

The dental consequences can be extensive. Comparison of Dentoalveolar Trauma Patterns Between E-Scooter and Bicycle Accidents in a German Urban Area found more complex dental injuries among e-scooter riders, including root fractures, complicated crown fractures, and injuries involving multiple teeth. The maxillary anterior teeth were particularly vulnerable.

These cases may require splinting, endodontic therapy, periodontal monitoring, surgical treatment, restorations, implants, and years of follow up. A tooth that looks repairable on the first visit may later develop pulp necrosis, inflammatory resorption, ankylosis, or progressive bone loss.

The Birmingham study, Rising Incidence of E-Scooter Related Dental Injuries, a Study From Birmingham’s Major Trauma Centre, identified 71 dental injuries among 32 patients. The upper central incisors were injured most often. Many patients also had lip lacerations, facial trauma, or traumatic brain injury.

The clinical lesson is simple. A patient who appears to have a localized tooth injury after a scooter crash may also have an occult root fracture, alveolar damage, concussion, or more extensive craniofacial trauma.

The severity is not limited to the teeth. Maxillofacial Injuries Associated With Electric Scooter Accidents, a Multicenter 6-Year Analysis, reported that approximately half of affected patients sustained facial fractures and about 52 percent required surgery. Common sites included the mandible, cheekbone and orbital complex, and nasal bones. Nearly 40 percent had associated injuries elsewhere in the body.

E-bikes produce a different pattern. Their larger wheels, longer wheelbase, and seated position generally make them more stable over uneven pavement. Their danger comes from speed, weight, and impact energy.

Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes commonly assist riders to 20 miles per hour, while Class 3 models assist to 28 miles per hour. Modified models may travel much faster. As speed rises, crash energy rises sharply.

Studies comparing e-bikes with conventional bicycles consistently report more severe injuries, higher hospitalization rates, and more trauma involving multiple body regions. Increased Injury Severity and Hospitalization Rates Following Crashes With E-Bikes Versus Conventional Bicycles found that nearly half of injured e-bike riders required hospitalization, compared with about one quarter of conventional cyclists. Thoracic injuries and multisystem trauma were more common among e-bike riders.

The neurological findings are particularly concerning. Injury Severity and Traumatic Brain Injuries in Youth and Adolescents Using Conventional and Electronic Bicycles found traumatic brain injury in 37.8 percent of young e-bike riders compared with 19.4 percent of conventional cyclists. Facial fractures occurred in 11 percent of e-bike riders compared with 3.4 percent of conventional cyclists.

Other studies from Switzerland and Zurich found higher rates of intracranial bleeding and injury patterns that sometimes resembled motorcycle trauma more than ordinary bicycle crashes.

Helmets matter, but helmet type matters too. The meta-analysis, Bicycle Helmets, To Wear or Not to Wear, found that helmets reduced head injuries by 48 percent, serious head injuries by 60 percent, traumatic brain injuries by 53 percent, and facial injuries by only 23 percent.

Standard bicycle helmets protect the skull far better than the teeth, jaws, lips, and midface. That gap is especially important for dentists.

Evaluation of Full-Face, Open-Face, and Airbag-Equipped Helmets for Facial Impact Protection found that full-face designs reduced facial forces and brain strain more effectively than open-face helmets in several impact scenarios. Full-face protection is not perfect, but a chin guard offers protection that a conventional bicycle helmet cannot.

The recurring behavioral risks are equally clear. Helmet use among injured e-scooter riders has often been below 5 percent. Alcohol commonly appears in evening and weekend crashes. First-time riders, excessive speed, poor pavement, distracted riding, and carrying passengers add further risk.

Reports of barefoot riding are plausible, particularly in nightlife districts, beach communities, and college areas. However, footwear is not consistently documented in trauma databases, so that claim remains more clinical observation than established epidemiology.

For dentists, the practical response begins with recognition. Ask how the crash happened. Determine whether there was loss of consciousness, amnesia, vomiting, headache, altered behavior, neck pain, or anticoagulant use. Examine the lips, vestibule, occlusion, mobility, percussion response, alveolar segments, and supporting bone. Obtain appropriate imaging and maintain a low threshold for medical or surgical referral when the mechanism suggests significant head or facial injury.

Patient communication matters as well. A short scooter ride can produce permanent tooth loss, jaw fixation, facial plates, nerve injury, altered occlusion, scarring, and decades of restorative expense.

Recommend a properly fitted helmet for every ride, full-face protection for faster devices, no alcohol, closed-toe shoes, lights, slower speeds, and age appropriate limits for children. Riders should also use certified batteries and chargers because lithium-ion fires represent a separate, serious hazard.

Micromobility has real benefits. E-bikes can increase activity, extend mobility, reduce car use, and keep older adults riding. The goal is not to portray these devices as inherently unacceptable. It is to recognize that many people treat them like toys even though their speed and crash energy can approach that of motorized vehicles.

When a patient sees an e-scooter as harmless recreation, should dentistry be the profession that explains what one fall can cost?

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E-Scooter and E-Bike Injuries Dentists Need to Recognize


Government and Public Health

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Micromobility Products-Related Deaths, Injuries, and Hazard Patterns: 2017–2023
https://www.cpsc.gov/Research–Statistics/Sports–Recreation/Micromobility-Products-Related-Deaths-Injuries-and-Hazard-Patterns-2017–2023

E-Scooter and E-Bike Injuries Soar: 2022 Injuries Increased Nearly 21%
https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2024/E-Scooter-and-E-Bike-Injuries-Soar-2022-Injuries-Increased-Nearly-21

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Characterization of Dockless Electric Scooter Related Injury Incidents, Austin, Texas, September to November 2018
https://archive.cdc.gov/www_cdc_gov/eis/conference/dpk/Dockless_Electric_Scooter_Related_Injury.html

Systematic Reviews

The Impact of E-Scooter Injuries: A Systematic Review of 34 Studies
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36039663/

Bicycle Helmets: To Wear or Not to Wear? A Meta Analysis of the Effects of Bicycle Helmets on Injuries
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29677686/

Dental and Maxillofacial Trauma

Maxillofacial Injuries Associated with Electric Scooter Accidents: A Multicenter 6-Year Analysis
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s44411-025-00407-y

Comparison of Dentoalveolar Trauma Patterns Between E-Scooter and Bicycle Accidents in a German Urban Area: A Retrospective Study
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12468970/

Dental and Maxillofacial Injuries Associated with Electric-Powered Bikes and Scooters in Israel: A Report for 2014–2019
https://cris.bgu.ac.il/en/publications/dental-and-maxillofacial-injuries-associated-with-electric-powere-2/

Rising Incidence of E-Scooter Related Dental Injuries: A Study From Birmingham’s Major Trauma Centre
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-024-7635-x

Urban Drinking and Driving: Comparison of Electric Scooter and Bicycle Related Accidents in Facial Fracture Patients
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10181023/

Helmet Performance and Injury Biomechanics

Head Ground Impact Conditions and Helmet Performance in E-Scooter Falls
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36571970/

Evaluation of Full Face, Open Face, and Airbag Equipped Helmets for Facial Impact Protection
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37418868/

E-Scooter Injury Studies

Continuously Increasing E-Scooter Accidents and Their Possible Prevention in a Large European City
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39112756/

Electric Scooter Injury and Trauma in Edmonton: A Multicentre Prospective and Retrospective Observational Study
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40246324/

Incidence and Severity of Electric Scooter Related Injuries After Introduction of an Urban Rental Programme in Vienna: A Retrospective Multicentre Study
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32852595/

E-Bike Injury Studies

Increased Injury Severity and Hospitalization Rates Following Crashes With E-Bikes Versus Conventional Bicycles: An Observational Cohort Study From a Regional Level II Trauma Center in Switzerland
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35248128/

The Rise in Electric Biking Injuries: A 10-Year Age and Sex Specific Analysis of National Injury Data
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39981672/

Injury Severity and Traumatic Brain Injuries in Youth and Adolescents Using Conventional and Electronic Bicycles: A Retrospective Cohort Study
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40788388/

Cranio Cervical and Traumatic Brain Injury Patterns: Do They Differ Between Electric Bicycle, Bicycle, and Motorcycle Induced Accidents?
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38592466/

Comparison of the Incidence and Severity of Traumatic Brain Injury Caused by Electrical Bicycle and Bicycle Accidents: A Retrospective Cohort Study From a Swiss Level I Trauma Center
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30857998/

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