Dental trauma never happens at a convenient time, especially for children and young adults. If you have a dental emergency please call us at: (978) 462-2227
The information below will give you a brief overview of the most common types of dental injuries that we see:
Intrusion – An intrusion injury is one where a tooth or teeth are push inward toward the gum line. If your child has an intrusion injury or you suspect that they may have an intrusion injury, please contact us right away. Because the body begins the healing process rapidly, if an intruded tooth is not treated quickly, it may not be possible to move the tooth back to its original position if too much time has elapsed between the time of the injury and the time of treatment.
Luxation – a luxation is similar to an intrusion, except that in a luxation, the tooth is pushed forward or pushed backward. Once again, time is critical because if the tooth begins to heal in the moved position, we might not be able to reposition it.
Avulsion – an avulsion is the situation where a tooth has been knocked out completely. If a tooth is avulsed, please contact us immediately. If the tooth is dirty (e.g. is has fallen in the mud) – do not wash the tooth and do not scrub or clean the tooth off. In this situation, place the tooth in milk or in saliva in a cup if milk is not available. If the tooth is clean (e.g. it has fallen in the grass) you can attempt to replace the tooth in the socket. If the tooth slides in easily, you can hold the tooth in place until you see us for treatment. If the tooth does not slide in easily, do not force the tooth.
Please note that even with quick and early treatment, avulsed teeth usually have a very poor long-term prognosis and will often need to be extracted and restored with another treatment modality such as a dental implant or a fixed bridge.
Fractured teeth