Dental Injury Due To Car / Auto Accident

A car accident is a traumatic event, leading to injuries that are visible and not-so-visible. If you’re bleeding from your mouth, it may be a sign that you’ve lacerated your gums or even had teeth knocked out in a car accident. You may have fractured, cracked or chipped your teeth. You may feel jaw pain after the accident. Every injury can affect how you breathe, speak, eat and swallow.

The list of potential injuries may be long, but there are common ones. See your restorative cosmetic dentist as soon after your accident as possible to treat these injuries:

• Dislodged tooth, which is when a tooth shifts or moves in your mouth, but still stays in. In some ways, this is worse than getting a tooth knocked out in a car accident. The broken tooth can sometimes be saved, whereas a dislodged tooth needs to be repaired over time, sometimes with unsightly braces. If the tooth structure was damaged too much, it may have to come out or you may need a root canal to save it.
• Chipped tooth, which may be visibly damaged or not. The pain you feel from a chipped tooth depends on how much of the tooth you lost. If the chip goes deeper than the enamel, you may feel temperature sensitivity with this kind of tooth damage from a car accident. Your CitiDental restorative cosmetic dentist has several options for repairing the tooth.
• Broken tooth, which is a more severe break than a chip. The whole top or cusp of the tooth may have broken off, and that’s certain to cause pain. If you can find the piece of the tooth, bring it with you to the dentist. Otherwise, the best treatment for a broken tooth may be to cover the tooth with a dental crown to protect the rest of the tooth. You can opt for different types of crowns, including porcelain or zirconia.
• Fractured tooth, which can be invisible even on an x-ray. It’s serious because the fracture may extend all the way to the tooth root or below your gum line. With teeth broken in accidents this way, you may feel a deep throbbing pain. Your dentist may have to perform a root canal to save the tooth.
• Damaged to the pulp, which exposes the nerve and blood vessels at the center of the tooth. If your tooth damage from a car accident penetrates to the core of your tooth, you’ll feel intense pain almost immediately. You must seek emergency dental care to save the tooth from having to be pulled. If the tooth can’t be saved, you have many options for replacing it with an artificial tooth.
• Teeth knocked out in a car accident, which doesn’t necessarily mean the tooth can’t be saved. Press clean gauze over the tooth in your mouth and find the tooth fragment. Place it in saline or milk and get to the dentist as soon as possible. Your emergency dentist in Queens may be able to reattack the tooth. Otherwise, your options include an implant or a bridge.

Traumatic dental injuries, such as when you’ve lost teeth in a car accident, can leave gaps in your smile. Missing teeth can also change your bite, affect your speech and leave your self-confidence in tatters.

Only through fast action can you hope to save teeth broken in accidents. Your emergency dentist’s first goal is to save your teeth. But at CitiDental, there’s always an eye on your appearance. If you’ve lost teeth in a car accident, you can get replacements to preserve your smile and give you back full functionality.