Managing Dental Trauma
Most traumatic dental injuries occur in children, but people of all ages can be affected. Whether the injury is the result of a car accident, a sports mishap or a bad fall, the dental injury can cause damage to the tooth crown, the tooth nerve, the root structure and the root's surrounding tissues. The simplest form of dental injury is chipping part of the tooth crown without exposing the tooth nerve. More complex injuries either expose the tooth nerve or even damage the tooth blood supply at the root tip. Other forms of injury cause fracture of the root and less frequently dislodge or knock the entire tooth out of its socket. Therefore, treatment of traumatic dental injuries varies widely depending on the type and extent of the injury. The treatment can be very simple if the injury is minimal or very complex requiring several visits for splinting, root canal treatment and bleaching of the injured teeth.
