Traumatic Dental Injury

Traumatic Dental Injury

Injuries to the mouth can cause teeth to be fractured, pushed out of position, or knocked out of their socket.  Your dentist or endodontist may be able to reposition and stabilize the tooth, allowing it to heal. After the trauma you will most likely require close follow up by an endodontist.  Our office will carefully assess the tooth over the following weeks to determine if your tooth will require further treatment. Children’s teeth in early development have the ability to recover from trauma without root canal treatment.  As for adults, our teeth often require root canal treatment a few weeks after the trauma.  

Anytime a tooth is knocked out of the socket, quick and careful thinking is needed for successful treatment.  The tooth should be kept moist, if possible, by placing it in a glass of milk or a glass of water with a pinch of salt.  Try not to touch the root of the tooth as much as possible.  We suggest you immediately contact your dentist or endodontist for careful follow up care.

For your children, a quick call to their pediatric dentist is usually the first stop.  Pediatric dentists are well trained in assessing any injuries to children.  Your pediatric dentist may then refer you to see us at Spindrift Endodontics and/or an Oral Surgeon depending on the injury.