Dental Accident & Emergency

A dental accident & emergency can happen at any time......... So I'm watching TV when I get this text from my fantastic dental technician David De Wet of Oral Art. Just one look at at the attached photo & I knew that this young chap from Takapuna (and his parents & his twin sister) would be very uspset. Fortunately he had already seen a dentist who had checked for any nerve exposures. Thank goodness there weren't. He arrived at my practice with the piece of fractured tooth in a little bag of water to keep the tooth fragment hydrated. Mum filled out an ACC form & we were off.

Amazingly this 10 year old had no pain. After taking a digital x-ray & checking that his tooth was still alive (which it was) I checked to see if the two halves of his tooth would fit together - They did perfectly. Things were looking good. I now put my dental bonding hat on & thoroughly cleaned both the tooth in Takapuna Chaps mouth & the tooth fragment using a gentle spray of powder & sand (this is called dental air abrasion). This creates a superb surface for gluing or dental bonding. I used a clear dental veneer cement to carefully rebond chip A to tooth B.

I think the end result is most pleasing & this lovely family from Takapuna, North Shore, let out a colective sigh of relief.

So if this happens to you or a family member, it is possible to reattach your tooth fragment using dental bonding. If possible try & find the piece of broken tooth & bring it a long. 

If the whole tooth is knocked out you need to get to a dentist as quickly as possible.

Things to do if a whole tooth is knocked out -
1) If someone feels confident, the best thing to do is pick the tooth up by the crown (never hold the tooth by the root) & push it back into the socket if it is clean
2) Then get to a dentist or failing that a hospital A&E ASAP
3) If the root of the tooth is not clean, whilst holding the tooth by the crown, run the root under a jet of water ie tap water or squirt water from a drink bottle, until all the debris has been removed, then push it back into the socket
4) Get to a dentist or failing that a hospital A&E ASAP
5) If you can't get to a dentist quickly you can make a splint by wrapping tin foil over the damaged tooth and its neighbours to help hold it in place & then get to a dentist
6) If you can get to a dentist & don't feel confident about putting the tooth back into the socket, the tooth needs to be carried correctly to the dentist or A&E. If the patient is able to/old enough to understand what's going on, the best place to keep the tooth is in the patients mouth under the tongue
2) If this is not possible then put the tooth in milk
3) If this is not possible then put the tooth in water

If you chip your tooth & don't have the fragment the tooth is often repaired using dental composite resins / white fillings & dental bonding.  

If you break your tooth in a more structural way an option may be to place a dental tooth veneer or dental crown to strengthen your tooth, & improve it's appearance

One of the main functions of any dental practice is the treatment of dental emergencies & we are here to help the good people of the North Shore with all their dental requirements - From Devonport and Belmont up through Takapuna, Castor Bay,Mairangi Bay & Browns Bay as well as Albany, Northcote, Hillcrest & the Whangaporoa Peninsula and beyond.