Traumatic Injuries in Wilmington
Accidents and injuries can lead to cracked, dislodged, or knocked-out teeth, and prompt treatment is crucial for the best possible outcome. If you experience dental trauma, call our office as soon as possible, and we will do our best to see you in a timely manner and provide the necessary care to save and restore your tooth.
Dislodged Tooth
A dislodged tooth is a tooth that has been pushed further in or out of its original socket. This may occur because of a traumatic injury in the mouth caused by an accident.
If the tooth is pushed partially out but the pulp remains healthy, repositioning of the tooth and proper stabilization is necessary. In case the pulp is damaged, a root canal is necessary before or sometimes after stabilization.
If the tooth is pushed further into the socket, your endodontist or general dentist can reposition it or recommend a root canal a few weeks after the injury and some medication will be placed inside the tooth. Eventually, a permanent root canal treatment is completed to increase the likelihood of healthy repair.
Avulsed Teeth
An avulsed tooth is one that has been completely knocked out of its socket due to trauma. This is a dental emergency and requires immediate attention. If a tooth is avulsed, it’s crucial to keep it moist and see a dentist as soon as possible.
Gently rinse the tooth with water if it’s dirty —do not scrub or remove any attached tissue fragments. If possible, place the tooth back into the socket. If that isn’t feasible, store the tooth in milk, saline, or in the mouth next to the cheek . Avoid storing it in water, as this can damage the root cells necessary for successful replantation.
The chances of saving the tooth depend heavily on how long it was out of the mouth and how it was stored. Prompt and proper action can make all the difference.
Injuries in Children
When an injury occurs on an immature tooth, a different approach is followed to improve chances of saving the tooth. An immature tooth is a newly erupted permanent tooth with an incomplete root formation. Sometimes no treatment is necessary; but, if the sterile pulps of the roots have been involved the endodontist may recommend either an Apexification or Apexogenesis.
Apexogenesis is a conservative procedure that preserves healthy vital pulp tissues to encourage the root to continue development. As the child gets older, the root continues to mature and the walls of the root canal will thicken. Most of the time the pulp heals and no further treatment is required. Sometimes root canal treatment is still necessary later in life if contamination occurs or if the pulp degenerates.
Apexification uses a different approach and is usually necessary if a deeper injury has happened or if infection has set it. In this procedure, the endodontist removes all of the infected tissues in the roots and places medication in the immature root canals to stimulate hard tissue formation at the apex. This procedure may be done in steps and may requires a few months of healing. Once the hard tissue barrier is formed and the infection heals, the root canal is completed as necessary. Since the root can’t mature and normal root thickness can’t be achieved, the tooth remains susceptible to fractures. It is therefore important to follow up with your dentist to properly restore the tooth.
