Dental trauma affects all ages, but most frequently during childhood and adolescence. In preschool age it happens due to falls and accidents. In older children or adolescents, they are usually secondary to sports accidents, bicycle falls, motorcycle or car accidents, etc.
What should we do when faced with dental trauma?
When a child suffers dental trauma First of all, we must differentiate if the affected tooth is temporary (milk) or permanent, because the guidelines to be followed will be different both on the part of the parents and the dentist.
We must consider these traumatic injuries as a urgency, therefore, it is convenient for parents to take the child to a dental clinic with maximum speed possible so that the specialist dentist can make an examination and assessment of the teeth and surrounding tissues and thereby determine the pattern to follow.
It is important to distinguish if the dental trauma has led to a fracture in part of the tooth, either the crown or the root.
What to do in the event of a trauma with a tooth loss (dental avulsion)?
In the event that a temporary tooth (of milk), the most important thing is the prevention of the damage that it can cause in the definitive tooth, so it is essential to avoid problems in the development of the teeth, an urgent control at the dentist. A baby tooth is never reimplanted.
In case the trauma is in a tooth definitive and it falls, the recommended thing is:
- Put it in a container with milk, better if it is skimmed milk. Or that one of the parents places the tooth under his tongue (saliva keeps it well) and go immediately to the dentist in case you can reimplant the tooth.
- It must be taken into account that after a blow it may appear at first glance that the tooth has not suffered damage, but it may be that it is fractured. In this case, the dentist is the one who must assess the damage and act to prevent the loss of the tooth.
The reimplantation of a tooth that has completely fallen out should be done within one hour after the fall and will have a better chance of success if done in the first 30 minutes. But it will be the dentist who performs this reimplantation in the optimal conditions so that the tooth is not damaged or lost.
Faced with a tooth fracture
Faced with a coronary fracture (the visible part of the tooth is broken), the dentist must determine if this fracture affects only the enamel, enamel (outermost layer of the tooth) and dentin (intermediate layer) or if it also affects the nerve (innermost layer tooth).
Depending on the extent of the fracture, the treatment consists of reconstructing the tooth with the necessary process and in more severe cases, if the fracture reaches the dental nerve, a pulp treatment (endodontics) must be performed prior to the reconstruction. In some cases, the extraction of the affected tooth may be necessary.
Subsequently, radiographic and pulp vitality controls are carried out for at least 3 months
What if the child wears orthodontics?
When the trauma has been caused in a child who is an orthodontic wearer, the wires that are attached to the brackets can loosen with the blow, or even a bracket may be debased. This should be checked by the dentist as soon as possible to alleviate discomfort and avoid possible injury to the gum from the loose wire.
In summary, it is very important to bear in mind that in the event of a trauma to a tooth, the chances of losing it will be less sooner go to the dentist.
