Springtime Sports: How to Handle Kids’ Teeth Injuries
With the beginning of the spring sports season, we see an increased amount of trauma to children’s teeth. Many parents wonder what they need to do, who they need to see. Your family dentist is usually the best place to start. Most emergency rooms do not have a dentist on staff and may not have the expertise that your dentist does. The most common sports injuries are (1) fractured or chipped teeth, (2) teeth tran materially moved out of their normal position or forced out of place and (3) lacerations or cuts that may require stitches.
Fractures
When a tooth is fractured or chipped, the dentist will take an x-ray to make sure the nerve or root of the tooth has not been affected. When a tooth is moved out of position the blood supply to the tooth can be interrupted leading to a darkening of the tooth and eventual death of the nerve. A root canal is then required.
A fractured tooth that is not bleeding or extremely painful would not require an emergency office visit. If the nerve is not affected, the dentist will proceed to repair the tooth with a tooth colored filling material. If too much tooth has been damaged, the tooth may require a crown. If the x-ray shows an injured root along with the fractured tooth, the tooth may require a root canal or even an extraction.
After the root canal or extraction, the tooth will be restored to as natural a shape and color as possible. Your dentist will determine the necessary treatment. Of course, custom sports mouth guards can help eliminate almost all these types of dental injuries.
Tooth Knocked Out
Teeth that are pushed so far out of their normal position that the bite is affected need to be treated immediately by being put back into their correct position. This is true for all adult teeth but is not so for baby teeth. Baby teeth will not reattach after being severely displaced so they will need to be removed in most cases.
If an adult tooth is forced out or avulsed, rinse the tooth off with water, holding the tooth by the crown and try to replace it in the socket. Do not scrub, dry or wrap the tooth; and avoid touching the root of the tooth. Ligaments attached to the root need to stay moist so the tooth may be successfully re-implanted. Placing the tooth in normal saline solution will also keep the root moist. There is a product one can purchase for just such an emergency called Save-A-Tooth. However, eye contact solution is not a good to use. If the tooth is successfully re-implanted within thirty minutes, the tooth will have a good chance of survival after a root canal is completed.
Cuts & Lacerations
Lacerations or cuts to the lip or tongue may require stitches if they are deep enough. Placing gentle pressure with a clean towel or gauze will help control the bleeding until you get to the dentist office. Your pediatric or family dentist is the best place to start with any dental emergency.
Most offices have emergency contact numbers for nights and weekends and are happy to help their patients in any dental emergency.
Sweets for Kids at the Holidays? What Dentist Approved That?
Now that the holiday season is in full force, you’ve probably noticed an increased availability of sweets everywhere you turn. Your child’s teacher asks for everyone to bring a candy to exchange, the dance recital serves punch and cookies afterward, and don’t forget the homemade fudge at Grandma’s house.
Is it possible to prevent dental problems for your little one during the Christmas season? Yes. The key is “everything in moderation,” along with some important advice from your child’s dentist!
Limit the Candy Canes
Sucking on a hard candy cane for a half hour or more means constant sugar exposure on your child’s teeth. Of course, you don’t want to be the one to throw them out completely. For a happy compromise, limit them to no more than a few candy canes per week (just during the holiday season, of course) or purchase the smaller ones instead.
Soft Sweets are Better on the Teeth
If you’re at a holiday party and your little one wants to indulge, steer them toward the cookies, as opposed to the baklava or brittle. A softer, less-sticky food won’t “hang out” in the deep grooves of the back teeth for hours on end.
Stuff Their Stocking with Xylitol
Gums and candies with Xylitol as the primary sweetener can actually limit plaque and acid levels inside of your child’s mouth, reducing their risk of tooth decay. If you’re out and about without access to a toothbrush — and you know your child has just enjoyed a plethora of holiday goodies — keep Xylitol gum on hand to at least counter-act some of the sugary acids that their teeth have just been exposed to.
Drink Lots of Water
Encourage your child to have a refillable bottle of tap water in their backpack or as they snack throughout the weekend. Tap water contains regulated fluoride levels and the pure H2O rinses away acids after meals.
Up Your Child’s Fluoride…at Least Temporarily
Now is a good time to pick up a bottle of fluoridated mouthwash for your child to use before bedtime each night. An over the counter rinse is fine. Brush and floss first, have her rinse, then don’t eat or drink anything else before bed. Fluoride remineralizes weak areas that may be compromised from sugary sweets during the daytime.
If your child hasn’t seen a dentist in the last six months, now is a great opportunity (especially before your end of the year dental benefits expire). Regular checkups promote healthy smiles and eliminate the risk of toothaches during the holidays!
How to Care For Your Child if They Chip a Tooth
As parents, we do our best to care for our children when accidents or injuries occur. In dentistry, one of the most common dental emergencies that family and pediatric dentists see is chipped teeth.
By being prepared and knowing how to handle a chipped tooth, you can ensure your child is well looked after from the moment the injury occurs to when your family finally makes it to see your dentist.
Control Any Bleeding
The mouth bleeds easily and heavily, due to the many blood vessels supplying it. Apply pressure with a clean cloth or sterile gauze (a facial tissue works if you don’t have anything else on hand) to help stop any bleeding that’s occurring.
Look for the Tooth Fragment
If the damage to your child’s tooth is significant, your dentist may be able to bond the broken off portion back into place. The key is to find it quickly and store it properly, so that it doesn’t dry out. Place it in a sealed container and submerge it with milk, contact solution, or if nothing else is available, tap water.
Take note not to scrub the tooth fragment clean, especially if it’s a completely knocked out tooth. Doing so could make it harder for your dentist to put back in place.
See your dentist within the next hour if at all possible. The sooner you seek out care, the more conservative treatment will tend to be.
Baby vs. Permanent Teeth
How your dentist handles treating a chipped tooth will depend on if it’s a baby or adult tooth. Adult teeth need to be treated quickly to avoid permanent nerve damage or deterioration of the compromised enamel. However, baby teeth are typically handled on a case-by-case basis. Depending on the size of the chip, your dentist may only want to monitor the tooth to make sure it doesn’t start to die before it exfoliates (falls out) naturally on its own time. However, larger cracks and chips may require some type of filling or a crown.
Preserve Your Child’s Smile
The health of your child’s teeth plays a direct impact on the development of their adult smile, speech patterns, and even their self-esteem. If your child has chipped a tooth or suffered from a bump to the mouth, see your dentist for a quick exam and X-ray to determine the severity of the trauma.
How Important is it to Treat Your Child’s Tooth Decay?
As parents, it’s natural to wonder why a child needs to have a cavity filled, especially if it’s in a baby tooth. “Won’t that tooth eventually fall out?” you ask. Yes, it will.
But there are some very important reasons why your family or pediatric dentist will want to preserve that primary tooth for as long as possible.
Spread of Infection to Other Teeth
Baby teeth decay very rapidly. A small cavity in one tooth today could be two decaying teeth at your child’s next dental checkup. Additionally, that same cavity can spread through the tooth down toward the developing permanent tooth underneath. Getting a small filling now could keep all of that from happening.
Pulling the Tooth Isn’t the Best Option…Here’s Why:
A natural reaction to managing a severely decayed baby tooth is to request that your child’s dentist pull it out instead of repairing it. If it’s going to fall out anyway, why not go ahead and have it removed?
In reality, prematurely losing that tooth will drastically affect the developmental characteristics and alignment of your child’s teeth and jaws. Baby teeth act as placeholders and guides for the permanent teeth that will one day replace them. If a tooth is lost a year or two sooner than it should, the open space left behind can jeopardize how all of the teeth in that area align with one another. You may not know it now, but that one missing tooth could lead to a couple of years’ worth of orthodontic treatment once your child gets into high school.
If your child does have to lose a tooth for some reason, a space maintenance device will be absolutely necessary.
Dangerous Medical Emergencies
From time to time, severely infected teeth can put children in the hospital. Dental abscesses have been known to spread deeper into the face and even the brain, potentially risking your child’s life. Unfortunately, this risk isn’t something that naturally comes to your mind until your child is in severe pain and being taken to the emergency room.
Early Diagnosis = Less Invasive Treatment
Keeping your child’s dental checkups every six months allows his or her dentist to spot the development of cavities or weak tooth enamel as early as possible. The sooner these issues are intercepted, the less invasive (and more affordable) they are to treat.
A small filling, sealant, or fluoride may be all that’s necessary to keep decay from spreading from one baby tooth to the next. It’s not too late to go ahead and schedule a dental checkup!
Do-It-Yourself Braces: Just Say No and Save Your Child’s Smile
As Do-It-Yourself (DIY) crafts and projects are climbing in popularity among teens, the trend has surprisingly migrated into the field of orthodontics. Believe it or not, teenagers across the United States are taking their smile into their own hands. According to the American Association of Orthodontists, almost 13% of dentists are seeing patients who have tried DIY teeth straightening – most of which have experienced irreversible damage.
In desperate attempts to straighten their smiles, teenagers are resorting to rubber bands, dental floss, fishing line, paper clips, and even homemade retainers. Although these methods can potentially move teeth, dentists everywhere are warning against these dangerous materials.
Initially gaining traction with teens on social media, DIY braces can lead to serious infection and permanent damage in the teeth and gums. Constant pressure, unsupervised by an orthodontic expert, can cause teeth to become extruded or out of socket. Tiny hair rubber bands are known for sliding upward and disappearing into the gums, becoming embedded in the gum tissue.
Many of these cases cannot be repaired, meaning patients who originally tried DIY braces to save time and money are now required to undergo complete oral reconstruction surgery. Overall, patients are paying almost double of the initial cost of orthodontic treatment just to reverse severe damage.
The number of teens attempting DIY braces is so alarming that the American Association of Orthodontists has reissued a public service announcement to warn teenagers of the dangers of this trend.
If you think your child is attempting to straighten his or her smile with DIY braces, put a stop to it immediately and schedule an appointment with your dentist. It could save your child’s smile!
Should You Worry If Your Child Grinds Their Teeth?
Teeth grinding, formally known as bruxism, is more common in children than most parents realize. Bruxism involves grinding, clenching, or gnashing of the teeth during the night, often leading to headaches, earaches, facial pain, jaw problems, and tooth damage. Two out of every ten children experience bruxism sometime in their lives.
Although bruxism does not have a clear cause, bruxism in children usually stems from a misaligned bite, anxiety, stress, hyperactivity, cerebral palsy, inner ear pressure, or a reaction to common medications. Diagnosing bruxism with your child can be difficult, as the warning symptoms can often be mistaken as other minor health issues. If you think your child may be suffering from bruxism, be sure to monitor his or her behavior while he or she is sleeping.
Do you see faint movement or hear strange noises coming from your child’s mouth at night? Have you noticed any wear, tear, or unusual “shortening” of your child’s smile? Has your child complained of morning headaches, a sore jaw, or pain associated with chewing food? Whether your child’s smile consists of primary teeth, permanent teeth, or a mix of the two, it is important to identify bruxism, as it can lead to chipping and wearing of the enamel.
The good news? Most children outgrow bruxism, and the majority of pediatric cases do not require treatment. Grinding often decreases between ages 6-9, completely disappearing by age 12. However, it never hurts to schedule a consultation to discuss your child’s symptoms. If your child’s smile is visibly deteriorating from bruxism, a mouth guard may be prescribed by your dentist.
