Trauma

Types of injuries:

• Concussions
  A concussive injury occurs when a tooth is bumped or hit, there may or may not be complications such as fractures. When a tooth is concussed, the blood supply to the pulp may be damaged and sometimes this causes the nerve and blood vessels within a tooth to die. This results in a discoloured or painful tooth some time after the accident - days or months! The tooth will require root canal treatment and sometimes crowns or bleaching to rid it of the discoloration.
• Fractures
  Fractures can be complicated (exposing the nerve) or uncomplicated. A complicated fracture may result in tooth death and may require root canal treatment for the tooth. Small fractures can be repaired by using composites or amalgams but larger ones may require veneers or crowns.
• Avulsion
  When the force of the accident causes the tooth to be pulled out of the socket, this is an avulsion. An avulsed tooth should be immediately placed back into the socket - if it is covered in debris, gently wash the root with water avoiding contact with the root surface. If you are unable to reimplant the tooth due to an obstruction or pain, clean the tooth carefully and place in a glass of milk or under your tongue and see a dentist immediately. An avulsed tooth can be reimplanted successfully if the tooth is reimplanted within a hour of avulsion. It will require root canal treatment after the bone heals and the tooth is held rigidly again.

• Lacerations
  Laceration are cuts and can occur in the soft tissues of the mouth as a result of an accident. If small, there are usually left to heal without intervention but if the laceration is large it has to be sutured closed. Muscular tears or cuts must be sutured to ensure that healing occurs with limited scarring and loss of function.
• Crushing
  A crushed lip is commonly seen when a blunt object hits the face. This results in brusing and swelling of the lips - nothing is done and usually time and cold compresses with allow the tissue to heal without too much discomfort.