“Mary, what happened to you?” cried out Mary’s mom. Her little one came to her with tears in her eyes and, surprisingly, a big tooth in her hand. The sun was shining the day Mary turned 9 years old. She and her friends were playing in the backyard when she fell. To Mary’s mom, who was watching from afar, it was a fall like so many others. However, an insignificant small stone can be a child’s worse enemy. When she fell, Mary hit one with her mouth and a tooth flew out.
A quick evaluation of the situation made Mary’s mom understand that it wasn’t a baby tooth that her child was carrying in her hand. Seeing her sweet daughter crying, bleeding and in pain, rather than panicking, she knew she had to act quickly, since there were only a few minutes to save the knocked-out adult tooth.
Injuries in children’s teeth can be very distressing for children as well as for their parents. One-half of the children suffer some type of dental injury during childhood. Obtaining dental care within 30 minutes can make the difference between saving and losing a tooth. However, the most important piece of advice is: do not panic.
The greatest incidence of trauma to the primary dentition (baby teeth) occurs at two to three years of age, when motor coordination is developing. Injuries to primary teeth usually result from falls and collisions as the child learns to walk and run.
The most common injuries to permanent teeth (adult teeth) occur secondary to falls, followed by traffic accidents, violence and sports.
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the International Association of Dental Traumatology recommend guidelines for management of traumatic dental injuries. Your dentist is aware of the treatment required. However, you, Mom and Dad, are the first-aid for your kid’s teeth.
First of all, confirm that you are only dealing with a dental injury. If so, identify if the traumatized tooth is a baby or an adult tooth and what kind of dental trauma your child suffered. Then, for you to act as an “expert” you just need to follow the “Save-a-tooth recipe”.
This article is contributed by CTNP Orthodontics located at 79 Hudson Street, Suite 400, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Specializing in adult and children orthodontics. You are invited to call us at (201) 714-9800 or visit us online at: ctnporthodontics.com
Written by: Catarina Ferreira, DDS and Cristina Teixeira, DMD
Click here to see the Save a Tooth Recipe!