Dental trauma is a set of injuries that occur in the tooth or tissues surrounding the tooth, due to mechanical agents, which exceed the resistance of these tissues.
The most frequent injuries are traumatic (concussion, subluxation, extrusion, lateral luxation, intrusion and avulsion), fractures (uncomplicated enamel fracture, complicated enamel fracture, enamel and dentin fracture, enamel dentin and pulp fracture, uncomplicated crown and root fracture, complicated crown and root fracture, root fracture, alveolar fracture), injuries in the oral tissues or gums (laceration, contusion, abrasion).
The main causes of dental trauma are of a very complex nature and can be of diverse nature, from human biology (pathologies), behavior (physical activities), and environment (culture, socioeconomic level, accidents, etc). They can also be due to factors such as overbite or lip incompetence, among others.
When a patient suffers some type of trauma, the main symptoms, in general terms, are pain during percussion (light pressure on the tooth) or chewing, bleeding, hematomas, changes in tooth color, tooth sensitivity, inflammation, etc.
How to solve dental trauma?
In most cases, our priority is to keep the tooth in the mouth, so it is often necessary to reposition the tooth, splint it with resin (glue two or more teeth to obtain dental stability), reconstruct the tooth or kill the nerve if there is necrosis. All these treatments have to be controlled under a strict follow-up protocol through radiographs and clinical consultations, on the same day of the trauma, at one week, 15 days, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months.