Traumatic Injury Management

Trauma to the teeth can cause them to become dislodged, broken, or displaced in the mouth.

Everything you need to know about traumatic injury management

Injuries and blunt force trauma to the mouth can cause teeth to be pushed back into their sockets, and become dislodged, broken, or displaced in the mouth.

Teeth that are pushed back into the jaw, knocked out of alignment, or forced out from their socket can often be treated successfully given appropriate treatment is received in a timely manner.
If the inner tooth (the pulp) maintains its health, then sometimes no other treatment may be required.
If the pulp does not recover from the original trauma, gets exposed to trauma again, or becomes infected, then root canal treatment will be required.
If an injury causes a tooth to be completely knocked out of your mouth or displaced, it is important that you are treated immediately.

How to save a knocked-out tooth

The best chance of saving the tooth is to act quickly, as the success rate of replanting knocked-out teeth is high if the procedure is performed within 20 minutes of the incident.

Find the tooth and pick it up by the crown or the enamel (not the root of the tooth), and put the tooth back into the socket.
Inspect the tooth; if it is visibly dirty, clean with saliva by either spitting on the tooth or putting in your mouth.
Plain milk can also be used to rinse the tooth.
Do not use water or any other drinks to clean the tooth, as this will kill the outer lining of the cells that attach the tooth to it’s socket.
If possible, carefully place the tooth into the socket. Gently close teeth together to prevent the tooth from falling out or being swallowed.
If this proves to be difficult, place the tooth in a glass of milk or hold the tooth in your mouth between your cheek and teeth until you arrive at the dental clinic.
From here, treatment will start and a plan for further diagnosis and treatment will be organised.
The type of treatment you receive will be dependent on the length of time that the tooth has been out of the mouth, and the storage of the tooth.

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