Why Your Teeth Need Trauma Protection?

‘Whack!’ ‘Smack!’ ‘Bang!’

It takes that split second of contact to break teeth, split lips and tear gums.  The entire tooth may even be knocked out of the mouth! This is tooth avulsion. It hurts in more ways than you may realize. Teeth damaged is forever.

An active, happy young child that gets the front teeth smashed, cracked or chipped, risks the following:

• Dental infection from ‘dead’ baby teeth
• Developing adult teeth being malformed at the crown or root level
• Surrounding teeth being pushed out of position
• Adult teeth getting stuck under the gum
• Color changes to the developing permanent tooth
• Deviation of the child’s’ normal bite, resulting in a crooked jaw and difficulty in eating.

A sporty teenager with damaged teeth from an accident also has to deal with the awkward questions and inquisitive looks from friends when they notice the discolored, broken teeth.

Treatment of fractured teeth depends on:

1. Severity of the trauma or accident
2. Age at which the accident occurred
3. Time between the accident and getting dental help

A multi-disciplinary team approach is often needed to manage teeth trauma cases:

1. Restorative Cosmetic dentist (Prosthodontics) to rebuild the size, shape and color of the teeth
2. Root Canal dentistry (Endodontics) to manage dental nerve damage of affected teeth and guide young damaged teeth to continue root developement
3. Oral Surgery to manage any tooth fragment removal, fix broken bones, close lip wounds and suture split gums
4. Braces movement by Orthodontist (Braces Specialist) to reposition teeth in their correct place.

All in all, a lengthy and costly recovery period for damaged teeth.