One of the most commonest causes of traumatic dental injuries in pediatrics is due to fall. However, most of us have no idea on what to do immediately and what can be done to manage the situation.
Lets know about the various traumatic dental injuries of teeth
1. Avulsion: Avulsion is the most commonest problems encountered during fall. In this, the tooth gets completely exarticulation from the tooth socket. The tooth comes out as a whole completely from the socket.
However what if we told you that there is a possibility of replanting the tooth that has come out.
Based on the extraoral Dry time, the management of avulsed teeth varies.
A. If the dry time is <15min
What can be done by the parent?
*Wash the tooth in running tap water
*Rinse the child's mouth
*Replant the tooth with light pressure. Do not push the tooth vigorously inside the socket and take the child to the dentist immediately.
What if the parent cannot replace the tooth
* Store the tooth in a storage medium like milk, saliva of the patient itself( by keeping the tooth at the base of the tongue to maintain the viable cells of the tooth. The tooth should not be dried
*Bring it to the dentist
B. If the dry time is < 60min
The prognosis of the replantation procedure is favourable. But again it depends upon the viablility of the live cells present in the tooth.
C. If the dry time is >60min
The prognosis for replantation is poor in these case. Since the dry time is more than 1 hr, the viable cells in the root surface the avulsed tooth, might have dried up, causing a difficulty in replanting the tooth in the appropriate socket.
Complications that can occur following replantation?
*Ankylosis: This is an unavoidable complication that can occur when the pressure of replantation increases. This causes obliteration of the space between the tooth and the socket allowing it to form a fibrous union between the tooth and the socket with no space for fibres to hold the tooth.
Other traumatic injuries to tooth:
Class 1 and class 2: Restoring the teeth with a suitable material
Class 3: Pulp capping procedures
Class 4: Pulpotomy, Pulpectomy or Root Canal procedures
Class 5: Replantation
Class 6 and 7: If mobile splinting of tooth is done to maintain it in place
Class 8: Root canal followed by prosthetic crown placement depending upon its prognosis.
Having a vague idea on what are the various injuries and how it can be treated is very essential. Book an appointment with your dentist can also help you gain a perspective on how to manage trauma in childhood.