Emergency Dental Trauma

Fortunately dental trauma is fairly rare, but when it happens it is very distressing to all concerned especially for us parents of children and adolescents! Dental trauma is best resolved by a caring dental professional in a calm and caring dental surgery. We have all the equipment required to handle most dental trauma except where there are broken bones involved. If that is the case specialist care in the hospital situation is the best place to get attention. However Save pieces of fractured teeth and if teeth are completely knocked out save them too! Broken pieces of teeth or completely knocked out (avulsed) teeth must be kept moist! The body only ‘recognizes’ the tooth as being part of the body because it has a layer of specialized support cells on its surface. If these cells die the tooth will be rejected. These cells must be kept alive by keeping them moist.

Following are some suggested steps to take:

  1. Handle the tooth only by the crown of the tooth (the whiter enamel that you usually see in the mouth. Pick it up and clean it – the best place is in the victims own mouth if they are conscious, capable and won’t swallow it! If not it can carefully be rinsed in milk Never use Water. Remember that the longer the tooth is out of the mouth the more chance that those cells will die and that the re-implantation will not be successful.
  2. After a tooth is knocked out the socket is surprisingly not a painful area to handle. Holding the tooth by the crown carefully wiggle the tooth back into the socket letting any blood or blood clot come out and get it into what seems to you to be the normal position, you can push it quite firmly and things will be fine. Hold it there or get the child to hold it in place and come and see me now! We will always prioritise trauma patients and see them as soon as possible.
  3. If you can’t bear to replant the tooth then bring it with you as soon as possible. Every minute counts, again keep it moist if possible in the patients mouth, if not in milk.

Please phone our surgery on (07) 3359 1996 for more information.