Being a parent has many rewarding and anxious moments. Being a parent, but also dentist, one of my parenting nightmares is having my son knock a tooth out. It is estimated that 5 million teeth are knocked out annually and many more are chipped or broken. This situation is extremely stressful for both you and your child, but if prompt action is taken the tooth can often be saved.
The best way to treat this situation is through prevention. Be sure your child has a professionally fabricated mouth guard for participation in any sport a properly fitted mouth guard will keep you and your child from going through the “knocked out tooth nightmare”. Unfortunately not all avulsed teeth occur during organized athletic events. Statistics show that falls are the leading cause of dental injuries. Intentional injuries (fights) are a top five cause and other causes are car accidents, bicycle incidents, and being struck by an object. Sixty two percent of these incidents occur at home.
So what should you do if your child has a tooth knocked out? The best results are obtained if the tooth is replaced into its socket within thirty minutes. However immediate replacement is often not possible as the child is often scared and possibly not willing to cooperate. Other injuries may require attention first and prevent immediate reimplantation. The other problem is many people lack the confidence or are afraid of replacing the tooth in the socket. Due to these factors the following steps should be accomplished. First do not wash or scrub the tooth, as it will damage the cells on the root surface. To keep the tooth from drying out it must be placed in a liquid solution. The ideal solution is the Save-A-Tooth system, which utilized a Ph balanced solution. If this isn’t available then the next choice would be milk. Contact lens solution may also be used, but do not use water as this will kill the cells on the root. If unable to place the tooth in any of these then place the tooth in your mouth between the cheek and gums. The next step is to get your child to your dentist as soon as possible.
I hope these tips will help you should you be confronted by this stressful situation. As a service to those reading this, the first twelve to contact our office will be given a Save-A-Tooth system.
The month of April highlights oral cancer awareness. Oral cancer is no joke, and its prognosis is often poor. The trouble is that most people diagnosed with oral cancer are diagnosed in a later stage of the disease.
Some people (whether or not they admit it) just love to chew on ice. They can get it from their freezer at home or fill up a cup at the cafeteria or just about anywhere, as long as they can fulfill their craving for that crunchy frozen water. If you’ve ever done this, you probably had a parent or teacher or friend tell you that it was bad for you and you were going to ruin your teeth. This is definitely true, because the hard material chips away at the enamel on your teeth and can cause you to need expensive and painful restoration treatments. However, it turns out that this isn’t the only way ice chewing is bad for your health.
