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 A child’s broken tooth represents one of the most traumatic and gut-wrenching experiences that a youngster can go through. The experience is no less stressful to parents, who often panic under their skin in a struggle to look calm and strong for their child on the outside. Few parents have ever contemplated the necessity of dental emergency care, and when they are faced with a dental emergency, often do not know what the best course of action is to take.
If a child has just broken a tooth, call Toll Free 1.888.790.0309 and speak to the dentist on call. He or she will give you instructions on how best to treat the child’s broken tooth and schedule an emergency appointment ASAP. Generally, washing out the mouth with warm water and applying an icepack is standard procedure, although other steps may need to be taken. DO NOT ASSUME that a generic fix is the solution to every crisis. Call the dental emergency number to ensure all necessary steps are taken and treatment is arranged immediately.
Once a child is brought in to the office with a broken tooth, there is more hope now than ever before at repairing your child’s smile. There are a host of new dental bonding techniques, cosmetic dental treatments, and new materials that will allow any broken tooth to be repaired to an apparently brand new condition.
It normally takes two appointments to repair a fractured tooth. During the first appointment, the dentist begins by bonding an insulating base to the tooth. This protects the tooth nerve and reduces its sensitivity.
Provided no infection then sets in, the second appointment involves roughening the tooth surfaces and covering it with a conditioning gel. This helps prepare the tooth for the application of the dental bonding resin, which is sculpted to the shape of the tooth and then hardened with a special light with a high intensity wavelength.
The most important thing to be on guard against when your child fractures a tooth is nerve damage. Nerve damage, if not dealt with professionally, can result in permanent loss of the tooth. There are four symptoms that you must be on guard for during the interim period between the first and second office visit. Call the dentist immediately if you see any of the following signs:
Discoloration is a good indication that the nerve is damaged and is beginning to die.
Your child’s eating or sleeping habits change very suddenly.
If the gums around the teeth swell, or if the tooth begins to hurt severely, or it becomes extremely sensitive to hot or cold, this is an indication that the nerve has become infected.
If you see abscesses or gum boils near the base of the tooth, this is an indication that the nerve is infected and on the verge of dying.
However, all of these problems can be remedied if acted upon in time. Cosmetic dental bonding has a very high success rate, and bonded restorations of broken teeth in children can last for as long as 7 years.
Cosmetic Dentistry is a specialized field that requires extensive knowledge and experience to be done correctly. The Medical Center Dental Group in Houston, Texas brings all of that and more to the direct benefit of each and every patient we treat. Although we are located in the world famous Houston Medical Center at Scurlock Towers, we routinely see dental patients who travel from Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Beaumont and Midland Texas to see Dr Dale Brant, Dr. Charles Campbell or Dr. Elizabeth O’Sullivan-Winslow for their cosmetic denistry services.
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