Traumatic Injuries

Traumatic Dental Injuries?

Traumatic dental injuries often occur in accidents or sports-related injuries. Chipped teeth account for the majority of all dental injuries. Dislodged or knocked-out teeth are examples of less frequent, but more severe injuries.

Treatment depends on the type, location and severity of each injury. Any dental injury, even if apparently mild, requires examination by a dentist or an endodontist immediately. Sometimes, neighboring teeth suffer an additional, unnoticed injury that will only be detected by a thorough dental exam and subsequent follow up appointments.

Endodontists are dentists who specialize in treating traumatic dental injuries. With their advanced skills, techniques and technologies they can often save injured teeth. If you have a cracked or injured tooth, it is important to address it promptly.

Types of Tooth Trauma

Concussion - This is similar to bruising your tooth. No physical damage had occurred to your tooth. No treatment is needed and tenderness should subsided within a few days

Subluxation - Increase mobility is seen but the tooth has not been displaced. Bleeding can be seen from the gum line and careful monitoring is needed to determine if a splint or root canal therapy is required

Extrusion - The tooth appears longer and very mobile. The tooth will require repositioning, stabilization, and root canal therapy

Intrusion - The tooth has been pushed into the bone. Sometimes the tooth will return back to the original position; otherwise braces or surgery are required to help pull the tooth back into position. Root canal therapy would be required.

Lateral Luxation - The tooth is displaced along with a fracture of the supporting outer bone. The tooth requires repositioning, stabilization, and possible root canal therapy.

SCHEDULING

We will schedule your appointment as promptly as possible. If you have pain or an emergency situation, please let us know, we do have times set aside for emergencies. Please arrive on time and honor your scheduled visit. We have a 24 hour cancellation policy. To avoid the $75 cancellation fee, please notify us in advance of your need to change a scheduled appointment.

Please call us at 808-218-6650 with any questions or to schedule an appointment.

REGISTRATION FORM

IMPORTANT

A PARENT OR GUARDIAN MUST ACCOMPANY ALL PATIENTS UNDER 18 DURING THEIR VISITS.

PLEASE ALERT THE OFFICE IF YOU HAVE A MEDICAL CONDITION THAT MAY BE OF CONCERN PRIOR TO SURGERY (I.E. DIABETES, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, ARTIFICIAL HEART VALVES AND JOINTS, RHEUMATIC FEVER, ETC.) OR IF YOU ARE ON ANY MEDICATION (I.E. HEART MEDICATIONS, ASPIRIN, ANTICOAGULANT THERAPY, ETC.) OR REQUIRE MEDICATION PRIOR TO DENTAL CLEANINGS (I.E ANTIBIOTICS, FOR PRE-MED.)

Avulsion - The tooth is dislodged from the socket. Keep calm! Pick the tooth up from the crown/white part and avoid touching the root portion. If it has debris on it, rinse under cold water for 10 seconds and reposition back into the socket. Bite on a handkerchief to stabilize the tooth and seek your dentist immediately. If this is not possible, place the tooth in a safe solution. The solutions (from most recommended to least) would be Pedialyte, saline, milk, in the mouth or saliva in a container. Avoid storing in water! Seek emergency dental treatment immediately. Stabilization and root canal therapy are required if the tooth is salvageable.

Infraction - The tooth experiences an incomplete crack of the white enamel without loss of tooth structure. If the tooth is not tender no additional root canal treatment is needed.

Enamel Fracture - The outer white enamel is chipped off. A filling or rebonding of the chipped tooth structure is all that is needed.

Enamel-dentin Fracture - A chip including the inner yellow tooth structure without exposing the pulp has occurred. A filling or rebonding of the chipped tooth structure is all that is needed.

Enamel-dentin-pulp Fracture - The crown fracture has exposed the nerve. Root canal therapy is required.

Crown-root fracture without pulp involvement - The tooth fracture does no involve the nerve but only the crown and root structure. The fragment needs to be removed and a restoration is required.

Crown-root fracture with pulp involvement - The tooth fracture involved the nerve as well at the crown and root. More extensive treatment is required and the endodontist would need to determine if the tooth is still savable.

Alveolar Fracture - The entire tooth remains intact but the supporting bone has fractured. More extensive treatment is required to reposition the bone segment and long term monitoring is required to determine if root canal therapy is required.

Root fracture - A fracture above the gum line has occurred and the tooth needs to be repositioned and stabilized. Careful monitoring will help determine if root canal therapy is required.