|
Emergencies
Early treatment of teeth injuries is vital to a satisfactory treatment result. On this page you will find useful instructions on what to do in the case of an emergency.
First aid
• In the case of injuries to permanent teeth, always contact your dentist/casualty department as soon as possible for an emergency appointment
• If the tooth is knocked out, gently rinse under running water to remove dirt or debris. Hold around the crown – avoid touching the root
• If possible, replace the clean tooth into the socket with a very light finger pressure. Do not attempt to replace evulsed milk teeth
• If it is not possible to replace the tooth into the socket, place the clean tooth in your mouth between the cheek and gum
• If it is not possible to store the tooth in the mouth of the injured person (e.g. young child or unconscious person), immerse the tooth in milk or water. It is important to keep the tooth moist until treatment is received, but storage in the natural environment of the mouth is far the best solution
|
|
|
 Injuries to milk teeth (deciduous teeth)
Many children injure their milk teeth. Typically the injuries involve the front teeth, especially in the upper jaw. Sometimes lips, gums or cheeks are also damaged.
Injuries to the mouth may include teeth that are knocked out, loosened, forced out of position or broken. Oral injuries are often painful, and should be treated by a dentist as soon as possible.
Knocked out teeth
If a milk tooth is knocked out, contact your dentist as soon as possible. Do not attempt to replace milk teeth in the socket.
Teeth pushed out of position or loosened
If the milk tooth has been knocked loose or pushed out of position (inward, outward, sideward or into the jawbone), do not attempt to reposition the tooth, but contact your dentist as soon as possible.
Also contact your dentist/casualty department if the lips, gums or cheeks has been severely damaged.
In certain cases it may be necessary to remove the milk tooth to ensure a normal development of the permanent tooth. If the injured milk tooth does not disturb the tooth germ of the permanent tooth, normal procedure will be to await the loosened tooth to affix. This normally happens within 2-3 weeks. In this period it is important to spare the tooth as much as possible and avoid hard food objects. Also try to limit the use of pacifier as much as possible.
Milk teeth that are pushed into the jawbone normally grow back within 3-8 weeks.
Occasionally, teeth injuries may cause periodontitis. The symptoms of periodontitis are pains, heavy swelling and blushing around the injured tooth. If signs of periodontitis occur, it is vital that the injured individual is seen by a dentist as soon as possible to prevent the infection to spread to the permanent teeth.
Broken teeth
How a fractured tooth is treated will depend on how badly it is broken. Regardless of the damage, treatment should always be determined by a dentist.
If only a small piece of the enamel is knocked off and the surface of the fractured tooth is white (without a small red dot into the nerve), subsequent treatment typically include smoothening the fracture with a sandpaper disc or the fracture is simply left alone.
If the fracture is more severe further treatment is normally required.
|
|
|
Injuries to permanent teeth
In case of injuries to permanent teeth always contact your dentist as soon as possible.
Knocked out teeth
If a permanent tooth is knocked out, immediately contact your dentist. If the tooth is dirty, gently rinse under running water. Hold around the crown – avoid touching the root.
If possible, replace the clean tooth into the socket with a very light finger pressure. Do not attempt to replace knocked out milk teeth. If it is not possible to replace the tooth into the socket, place the clean tooth in your mouth between the cheek and gum. If it is not possible to store the tooth in the mouth of the injured person (e.g. young child or unconscious person), immerse the tooth in milk or water. Storage of the tooth in the natural environment of the mouth, however, is far the best solution and will improve the preservation of the tooth.
If the tooth is replaced in the socket, subsequent treatment always should include antibiotics to prevent infection and tetanus injection.
Teeth pushed out of position or loosened
If the tooth is knocked loose or pushed out of position (inward, outward, sideward or into the jawbone), contact your dentist as soon as possible.
If the tooth is severely distorted or loosened, the periodontal membrane and nerve may be damaged. In these cases subsequent treatment often involve placing a splint to protect the tooth during the process of healing. The splint is removed after 1-8 weeks, depending on the extent of the injury.
In some cases distortion or loosening of the tooth may cause the dental nerve to perish. In those cases it will be necessary to remove the nerve, followed by a filling of the root canal. Correct and early treatment prevents a discolouring of the tooth. If a discolouration of the tooth develops, it can be remedied by placing a porcelain crown on the tooth.
Broken teeth
The treatment of a fractured tooth depends on how deep the fracture is. Regardless of the damage, treatment should always be determined by a dentist.
Superficial (enamel) fractures can be smoothed by your dentist with a sandpaper disc or simply left alone. A more profound fracture involving the tooth bone (dentin) needs to be protected with a filling (e.g. composite restoration). In either case, you should treat the tooth with care for several days.
If the fracture is deep and involves the dental nerve, a red dot is often seen at the fracture site. In these cases immediate treatment is required.
If the tooth bone or nerve has become damaged, subsequent treatment will often include protecting the tooth with a temporary crown or plastic covering. After a few weeks or months the tooth can be restored with a composite restoration or porcelain crown.
Injuries to the soft tissue of the mouth
Also contact your dentist/casualty department as soon as possible if the soft tissues of the mouth has been severely damaged.
Injuries to the inside of the mouth include tears, puncture wounds and lacerations to the cheek, lips or tongue. The wound should be cleaned right away and the injured person taken to the emergency room for the necessary suturing and wound repair.
Bleeding from a tongue laceration can be reduced by pulling the tongue forward and using gauze to place pressure on the wound area.
|
|
|
|
Protective diet
In some cases a protective diet is recommended to spare the injured tooth during the healing process. A protective diet contains no hard food objects, but does not necessarily have to be fluid.
Oral hygiene
It is important to keep teeth and gums carefully clean to accelerate the healing process. If there is no damage to the soft tissues of the mouth, you may continue to brush your teeth as usual. Always make sure that your teeth and splints are completely clean.
If the soft tissue of the mouth has also been damaged the risk of infection may be reduced by using a sterilizing mouthwash. It is seldomly necessary to rinse for more than the first week.
|
|
|
