Case study: Dental Trauma Before Chinese New Year
Dental trauma means injury to the mouth, including soft tissue like lips, gums, and tongue; or hard tissue like teeth and bone. It can be a very painful situation and require prompt treatment.
The most common dental trauma is an injury to the tooth including a fracture/broken tooth due to the impact of the trauma. Sometimes, the tooth can come out from the original position, or in some cases, the tooth comes out totally from the socket.
Case study: Soft Tissue and Hard Tissue Injury Due to Fall
Today’s case is a combination of both soft and hard tissue.
Mrs. F had been working very hard for consecutive days and felt exhausted. She was feeling dizzy right before the incident and was trying to get to her bed knowing that her body is not well. Unfortunately, before she could reach her bed, she tripped and fell, face facing down, knocked on her face.
She suspected that she lost consciousness for a few seconds. After awakening, she felt pain and her husband tried to massage her legs to increase blood circulation.
The next morning, she quickly searched around to see who was there to help.
After knowing what had happened, we immediately carried out a check-up and investigation.
The lips were swollen due to the force on the upper lip.
When we looked into the mouth, the inside part of the lip had a cut, and pus was forming.
Also, the upper right central incisor was fractured involving the pulp (the house for blood vessels and nerve); while the upper left central incisor was luxated (the tooth moved out of its original position)
After explaining to Mrs. F what were the findings and what is emergency management we are going to do, she agreed to the treatment.
The emergency treatment involved:
- Cleaning of the soft tissue where there was cut
- Applying antiseptic cream (Mrs. F got this from the pharmacy)
- Prescription of antibiotics as there was pus forming
- Reposition the upper left central incisor back to its original position and hold the tooth into position (To stabilize it) using a wire and splint it with other teeth
- Restoration of the upper right central incisor including applying calcium hydroxide to the exposed pulp.
- X-ray was taken in this case to confirm the position of the luxated tooth and to check if there is any other trauma to any other teeth.
- To continue monitoring all the upper front teeth and expect root canal treatment in the future for both upper central incisors.
In this case, the initial emergency treatment was completed within a few days.
However, as the teeth had sustained major force, the chance of needing root canal treatment is very high and hence requires a long follow-up. We need to continue monitoring and reviewing the condition of the teeth on a timely basis for up to 5 years in such cases.
In conclusion, dental trauma is an emergency situation that requires a prompt response for there is a golden period for the emergency measurement to be carried out.
Last but not least, prevention of falls and safety precautions should be considered if there are elderly and young kids at home to prevent any unwanted situations. Prevention is always better than cure.
Should you have any inquiries about this case, do feel free to write me at gwengan@whitedensity.com
or contact us at 016-248 4808.
