Hi, this is
Dr. Ryan Francis, DDS from Grove Health Dental
Dental
or tooth trauma is a type of injury which can involve a full tooth or baby
tooth. You must understand that timeliness is key when dealing with dental
trauma.
If
a full tooth has been traumatized, you can do either one of the following
actions:
1.
You
need to get the tooth back into the tooth socket within five minutes. If you
are comfortable, you can do it yourself. To do this, you need to rinse the
tooth with water, hold it by the crown (top part of the tooth) and not the
root, and re-implant the tooth. Just bite down on something and then it’s
essential that you visit us as soon as possible so we can preserve the tooth.
2.
You
need to clean the tooth and then put it in a storage medium. You have two
options:
a.
Recommended
storage media include milk, saline solution, or contact lens solution. The most
popular storage medium is Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution, but I assume not many
of you have this.
b.
Another
option is saliva or spit (spit of the person who lost the tooth). Clean the
tooth, put it in a cup with spit and cover it, and then call us immediately.
As
long as tooth has been placed in a storage medium, we have approximately 1 to 2
hours to salvage the tooth.
If
it’s baby tooth, we are not going to put it back in the tooth socket. If you
are not sure if it’s a baby tooth or full tooth, we can walk you through that.
If
the tooth is damaged and still in the tooth socket, we need to examine it
immediately. Certain procedures can be done to salvage that tooth within 24
hours. Even if the tooth is just a bit loose, it is recommended that the person
visit our office, as the tooth might need some form of treatment.
Sometimes,
the tooth involved in a dental trauma could sore and heal quickly. This
traumatized tooth can get better and be good for a month or even 10 years. However,
it will likely create a problem down the road, so it’s prudent for you to have
it checked sooner rather than later.
If
you know anyone suffering from tooth or dental trauma, make sure to advise the
person to come and visit us immediately so we can save the tooth. Immediate
examination of the traumatized tooth is important and taking prompt action will
vastly increase the chances of saving the tooth.
Grove Health Dental
763.416.0011
9907 Maple Grove
Parkway
Maple Grove, MN 55369
Maple Grove, MN 55369
www.GroveHealthDental.com