5 Most Common Dental Trauma Care Procedures
Understanding Dental trauma
Dental trauma refers to the injuries sustained on the periodontal ligaments surrounding one’s teeth, the lips, jawbone, teeth, and soft tissues inside the mouth. Dental injuries can range from major injuries such as avulsed teeth or minor injuries such as cracked or chipped teeth.
Dental trauma can cause negative aesthetic and functional effects on a person. However, seeking immediate medical intervention is important because the dentist can restore the injured tooth to its normal appearance and function.
Types of Dental Trauma
- Tooth fractures: These refer to injuries that cause chippings, cracks, and fractures on a tooth. As a result, you may experience pain when eating or when there is a temperature change. Tooth fractures can be superficial meaning the fracture is only limited to the enamel, or serious whereby the fracture extends deep into the jaw bone.
- Displaced teeth: Certain injuries can cause the teeth to hang loosely or get displaced from their socket. When a tooth gets displaced, the blood vessels supplying nutrients to the teeth also get damaged, therefore it is important to seek immediate treatment.
- Avulsed teeth: Certain injuries to the mouth can completely knock out the teeth.
- Soft tissue injury: These refer to mouth injuries that affect the tongue, gums among other soft tissues in the mouth.
Causes of Dental Trauma
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Sparring accidents
- Eating hard foods
- Sports injuries
- Falls
- Fights
Dental Trauma Care
Timeliness is often the key to saving a damaged tooth whenever a person suffers traumatic dental injuries. Therefore, responding in time and seeking appropriate diagnosis improves the outcomes derived when managing dental trauma. Proper management of dental injuries involves transparency between a patient and the dentist.
Therefore, whenever you suffer a traumatic injury, it is important to observe transparency and communicate all information to your dentist. Similarly, your dentist should be informed about your allergies and underlying conditions especially when seeking emergency treatment. To feel comfortable, you can work with a dentist-recommended by friends and family.
Common Dental Trauma Care Procedures
- Consultations: The consultation process enables a dentist and to establish the basic information about a client, including the cause of the trauma and any pre-existing medical conditions before establishing the most ideal treatment option.
- Clinical examination: following the consultation process is a clinical examination that allows the dentist to assess the teeth, soft tissue among other parts to determine the extent of the damage.
- Special investigations: Extensive investigations such as radiotherapy may be necessary whereby a patient incurred serious trauma that left them severely damaged.
- Diagnosis: Based on the data collected with regards to the patient’s history, and the findings from the clinical examinations and other investigations, the dentists can reach a diagnosis on how to effectively deal with the trauma.
- Treatment: depending on the type and severity of the trauma, your dentist will prescribe a suitable treatment plan that is personalized to suit your needs.
Several dental injuries can be prevented, if only you take the necessary precautions. For instance, you can:
- Wear a mouthguard when engaging in risky sports activities
- Always put on your car seatbelt
- Securing children in appropriate car seats
- Taking up child-proofing measures such as padding sharp edges, monitoring, and labeling slippery zones among others.
If you have recently suffered a dental injury, you should consider consulting with a dentist near you. fortunately, online platforms are a fantastic way of connecting with various service providers. All you have to do is be brief and specific with what you want to get satisfying results.
For instance, if you reside in Westchester, NY, and are looking for a medical practice offering dental trauma care in Westchester, NY, a simple search such as “dental trauma care near me” could work. Similarly, “Practitioners offering dental trauma care near Westchester, NY” could be an ideal way to connect with a professional dentist.
There’s no reason for you to suffer in shame hiding your beauty and confidence because of a dental trauma that interfered with your appearance when help is only a call away. Take charge of your health today and connect with professionals near you to get the necessary help.