Dental Emergencies
Children can be very active, and unfortunately dental emergencies often are part of growing up. Knowing what to do can relieve some of the stress, and can help mitigate problems associated with early tooth loss. In children, dental emergencies may result from sports injuries, playground mishaps, accidents and domestic violence.
Some of the types of dental injuries are:
- Alveolar fractures (the bone supporting the teeth).
- Movement of the tooth into or out of the socket.
- Root fractures.
- Fractures of the tooth's crown.
With any of these types of injuries, it is extremely important to rule out any other potentially more serious injuries.
Whenever injuries of this type occur, quick action is essential. If the injury is serious, take your child to the emergency room. For minor bleeding, apply direct pressure with sterile gauze or a clean cloth. If a tooth has been lost or broken, try to find the tooth or any pieces. When a tooth comes out of the socket, timing is critical to its prognosis. If the tooth is clean, and you are able to do it, push it back into the socket. If this is not possible, the tooth needs to be placed in a preserving solution, such as saliva (between the teeth and the lower lip), iced whole milk, Ringer's I.V. solution, or less ideally a damp cloth. Do not wipe the tooth clean as it could damage cells on the root. Extensive manipulation of the tooth can lead to a very poor prognosis so it should be carefully held by the crown (non-root) portion. A tooth returned to the socket in 15-30 minutes has a much better prognosis than a tooth that has been out of the socket more than an hour. Finally, get to a dentist as quickly as possible for a complete evaluation and treatment.
This article provided by
Dr. Schooley -- (614)297-4007.
