Forms of Dental Injury and Appropriate Trauma Management

Dental trauma refers to the accidental injury of the lips, tongue, teeth, mouth, jawbone, or gums. This may occur in both adults and children, and may involve severe bleeding, serious infections, or other consequences. Irrespective of the extent of your injury, you should visit a dentist for immediate dental trauma management in Brampton. Often the surrounding dental structures, such as teeth, suffer additional, unnoticed injuries that may only be detected after a thorough dental examination. In this post we highlight a few types of dental injuries/trauma and the steps your dentist will take to effectively manage that trauma.

What Are Common Types of Dental Trauma & How Are They Managed?

Here we discuss some of the most common types of dental trauma and how your Brampton dentist will manage it.

Chipped or Fractured Teeth 

If you have fractured or chipped a tooth’s crown, it can be repaired either by restoring the broken piece or by using a tooth-coloured filling. If a major part of the crown is broken, an artificial crown or cap will be required to restore it. Moreover, if the pulp is exposed or damaged after a crown fracture, then a root canal may be required. Such injuries necessitate preliminary trauma management. For example, if breathing through your mouth or drinking cold fluids becomes painful, bite on a clean, moist cloth or gauze for relief until you reach the dentist’s office. Do not use oral pain medication, ointments, or even aspirin on the affected areas to reduce pain. Injuries to the back teeth such as fractured cusps or cracked teeth require root canal treatment and a fully-covered crown to restore tooth functioning if the crack expands up to the root. More serious injuries such as a split tooth may require its extraction.

Luxated or Dislodged Teeth

During an injury, a tooth may be pushed sideways, either out of or into the socket. To restore dislodged teeth, the dentist will conduct a root canal a few days after the injury. Once this treatment is complete, a permanent root canal filling or crown will be created.

Avulsed or Knocked-Out Teeth

If your tooth is completely knocked out of your mouth, visit a dentist in Brampton immediately, preferably within 30 minutes, to save your tooth. Handle this tooth carefully by the crown and never touch its root. Your dentist will then assess the tooth, place it back into its socket, and examine you thoroughly for any other dental or facial damage. A stabilizing splint will be inserted afterwards. Based on the stage of root development, your Brampton dentist can begin the root canal treatment after one or two weeks. In some cases, such as if the knocked out tooth cannot be found or if it is not treated immediately, avail yourself of other dental treatment options to replace the tooth.

Root Fractures

A tooth injury may also result in a horizontal root fracture. The location of the fracture can determine your tooth’s long-term health. The closer this fracture is to the root tip, the better the chance of success. Alternately, a fracture closer to the gum can lead to serious damage. Stabilization with a splint may be required while the tooth heals.

Dental Trauma Management for Children

Like in adults, dental trauma management for children varies depending on the type of injury. For example, chipped primary teeth can be easily restored. But the primary knocked-out tooth must not be restored because this may permanently damage the underlying tooth growing inside the bone. Children whose permanent teeth are not developed fully at the time of their injury need immediate attention but not all will require a root canal. The blood supply and stem cells in an immature permanent tooth may help the dentist stimulate persistent root growth.

Special Dental Trauma Management

The type of injury, length of time between injury and treatment, and the way the tooth is treated post-injury may affect your overall oral health after an injury. That’s why getting immediate treatment is important, especially in the case of a dislodged or knocked-out tooth. This helps to prevent teeth resorption which occurs when your body, due to a dental injury, rejects the tooth as a form of self-defence. It refers to the inflammation as well as loss of the tooth's dentin (inner tissue below the enamel) or cementum (the outer material covering the tooth’s roots). A dentist will carry on with the treatment for up to four to five years to prevent this condition. The type of dental trauma management required by a patient differs greatly depending on the type of their injury and their age. Childhood dental injuries may require extraction, while more extensive treatment may be required in adults to restore the damaged tooth. If you believe you are suffering from a dental trauma, feel free to contact us for trauma management in Brampton.