Different dental Injuries and ways to treat them.
Dental traumas can be caused by accidents while playing sports, vehicle collision, fighting or physical abuse. Dental injuries may include damage to your gums, the alveolar bone or the soft tissue of the mouth, including the tongue, cheeks or lips. The most common causes of dental traumas include the following:
- Trauma to the teeth or face
- Sports-related injuries
- Wear and tear
- Poor oral hygiene
Dental trauma symptoms include fractured teeth, dislodged teeth, or even cracked or chipped teeth to one or more parts of your mouth. These injuries may impact the root, requiring dental procedures to save the tooth. If you experience any of these symptoms, you might need to schedule a visit with your dentist. Depending on the types of dental trauma, you will need a referral to an endodontist for the treatment procedure to address deeper harm to the tooth’s root.
Types of dental trauma and treatment
1.Concussion: One or more teeth are damaged, however are not dislodged from the gums.
Treatment:
- Soft diet for 1 week
- Good oral hygiene
2. Subluxation: Mobility of the tooth due to weakening of supporting structures of the tooth.
Treatment:
- A flexible splint to stabilize the tooth for two weeks
- Soft diet
- Monitor the stabilized tooth afterwards
3. Avulsion: The tooth is entirely displaced from its oral socket.
Treatment:
- Reposition the tooth and splint it for 14 days
- If the tooth was dropped on a dirty surface like soil then a tetanus vaccine coverage will need to be verified.
- Root canal treatment within 7-10 days is recommended
- Soft diet
- Prevention: mouth guard when having contact with sports
4. Lateral Luxation: Lateral luxation is displacement of the tooth resulting in a nearby bone fracture.
Treatment:
- Reposition the tooth and stabilize it with splint for 4 weeks
- Soft diet
- Monitor the nerve of the tooth (pulp)
- Possible root canal therapy if the pulp is devitalized.
5. Intrusion: Tooth is displaced and pushed further into the alveolar bone socket.
Treatment:
- Spontaneous eruption (treatment of choice for teeth that haven’t fully developed)
- Orthodontic repositioning
- Surgical repositioning for severe intrusions
6. Extrusion: The tooth suffers sufficiently severe trauma and is displaced outward or away from the alveolar bone.
Treatment:
- Reposition the tooth and stabilize it with a splint for 14 days.
- The vitality of the tooth has to be monitored and if the tooth is not vital it may require a root canal.
- Soft diet
- Monitoring the pulp/nerve of the tooth and root canal treatment is recommended if devitalized.
7. Fracture of the tooth: A significant breakage, chipped or crack on the rigid exterior shell of the tooth.
Initial Treatment:
- Stabilization of fragments with a splint and possible removal of the nerve (pulpectomy) depending on the severity of the fracture.
Definitive treatment
- Crown
- Orthodontic extrusion
- Surgical extrusion
- Decoronation
- Extraction
Need of professional treatment for dental injuries.
Dental trauma injuries often occur from an accident or sports injury. It’s less common to knock-out teeth, lost fillings, damage crowns, tooth fractures or dislodge your tooth, but these injuries are more severe. Ignoring these types of dental injuries or pain can lead to much more expensive repairs. Treatment procedure depends on the type, location and severity of each injury.
Regardless of the extent of the injury, your tooth needs an immediate examination by a dentist or an endodontist. A professional evaluation and treatment can save your teeth and protect your general health. Sometimes, soft tissue damage can set off oral infections which can spread to your neighboring teeth along with your jaw, neck, and head and suffer an additional. These unnoticed injuries can only be detected through a dental exam. Endodontists who specialize in treating traumatic dental injuries with their advanced skills, techniques and technologies will tell you whether it is an emergency. If you have a cracked or an accidental injury to your teeth or gums, find an endodontist right away to get an emergency dental treatment as soon as possible.
