Treatment
Dental trauma in Rugby
A fall, a sporting collision or an accident can chip, loosen or knock out a tooth in a second. The first hour decides a great deal, and follow-up over the following year protects the nerve inside the tooth.
First aid
- Adult tooth knocked out. Pick it up by the crown, never the root. Rinse briefly in milk or saline if dirty — do not scrub. Replace it in the socket and bite gently on a clean cloth, or keep it in milk, and see a dentist within the hour.
- Baby tooth knocked out. Do not replant it; it can damage the developing adult tooth. Have the child seen the same day.
- Chipped or broken tooth. Keep any fragment in milk; it may be bonded back. Cover a sharp edge with sugar-free gum or wax.
- Loosened or displaced tooth. Do not push it back yourself; keep to soft food and arrange to be seen the same day.
Any head injury, loss of consciousness or uncontrolled bleeding should be treated at A&E first.
Assessment
We record how the injury happened, examine the teeth and soft tissues, test the nerve response of each tooth in the area, check for looseness and take X-rays for root fractures. Where a tooth has been loosened or moved, it is gently guided back into position and secured to its neighbours with a flexible splint for a week or two.
Why follow-up is essential
A knock can stretch or sever the tiny blood supply at the root tip. The nerve may recover, or it may die slowly and without warning until the tooth darkens or an abscess forms. Injured teeth are reviewed at a few weeks, three months, six months and a year, with nerve tests and X-rays, so that treatment begins at the right moment if needed.
Treatment that may follow
- Root canal treatment if the nerve fails to recover or becomes infected.
- Procedures for young teeth whose roots have not finished forming.
- Management of root resorption — a process in which the body begins to break down the root after a knock.
- Repair or crowning of broken crowns, arranged with your dentist.
Children and sport
Most dental injuries happen to children and teenagers, and a properly fitted mouthguard prevents the majority of sporting ones — in a rugby town especially. We see children for the endodontic aspects of their care and work alongside the family dentist.