Pediatric Dentistry: First Aid for Dental Injury

• If it is a permanent tooth, try to save the tooth fragments.
• Give your child a soft ice-cream. The cold will help reduce the swelling.
• If there is any bleeding, ask him/her to gently but continuously bite down on a cold gauze or clean washcloth.
• Take him/her to your Dentotsav Smile Specialist for immediate further treatment.
• At Dentotsav the child will be made comfortable, and any bleeding stopped.
• An x-ray of the broken tooth will be taken to evaluate the tooth and the surrounding bone.
• Depending on the depth of the damage the tooth will be either left alone for observation, or splinted, or simply reattached or might even need a specialized root canal procedure.

In case of the entire tooth getting knocked off, don’t panic,

• Wash out the child’s mouth gently,
• Give your child something cold, preferably any soft ice cream (No carbonated drinks)
• Try to stop the bleeding by having them gently but constantly bite down on a cold gauze or clean washcloth.
• If it was a baby tooth, the tooth needn’t be saved, the permanent tooth will soon take its place. Take them over to the clinic for a complete evaluation to gauge the damage to the bone and the potential damage to the developing permanent tooth. However, the child might need a device (space maintainer) for maintaining the space lost due to the avulsed tooth while we wait for the permanent tooth to erupt.
• If your child’s permanent tooth gets knocked out (avulsed), just place the avulsed tooth in a glass of cold milk (never in water), and head over to the Dentotsav dental clinic with your child and the glass, as soon as possible for evaluation and possible reimplantation of the same tooth.

• If the space maintainer device has been given, you need to make sure the child brushes properly and that no food is stuck beneath the device.
• If the teeth have had to be splinted, specialized tooth brushes need to be used daily to maintain good health.
• Your Dentotsav Smile Specialist may have prescribed some mild painkillers and antibacterial gels; These need to be used as per instruction faithfully.
• Supervise oral hygiene habits like brushing and flossing and encourage the same once your child is old enough.
• Limit sugary drinks and/or carbonated drinks to protect your child’s teeth against decay.
• Review visits for the injured tooth evaluation become necessary as the tooth may not heal properly.
• To prevent sport related injuries, encourage the use of a mouth-guard during sports to prevent injury. (You may want to ask your Dentotsav Smile Specialist for a custom-fitted mouth-guard.)