Dental trauma and injured teeth in Nottingham

What to do straight after a dental injury

If a permanent tooth has been knocked out completely, time matters:

1. Pick the tooth up by the crown, not the root.
2. If it is dirty, rinse it briefly in milk or saline — do not scrub it.
3. Try to place it back in the socket and bite gently on a clean cloth. If that is not possible, keep it in milk or in the cheek and get to a dentist as soon as possible, ideally within an hour.

For a chipped, displaced or loosened tooth, contact a dentist the same day. Even if a tooth looks fine after an injury, the pulp can be damaged and problems may only show up weeks or months later.

How injured teeth are assessed

At the initial visit and at follow-up appointments we check the tooth's position and mobility, test how the pulp responds to cold and electrical stimulation, and take radiographs to look for root fractures and changes in the bone. The pattern of these findings over time tells us whether the pulp is recovering or has died.

Treatment after trauma

• Chipped teeth with exposed dentine are protected with a bonded restoration by your dentist.
• Fractures that expose the pulp can often be treated conservatively to keep the pulp alive, especially in younger patients whose roots are still developing.
• Teeth whose pulp has died need root canal treatment to prevent infection and root resorption. Discoloured front teeth can often be lightened from the inside afterwards.
• Displaced or replanted teeth are splinted to the neighbouring teeth for a period and reviewed closely.

Long-term monitoring

Traumatised teeth are followed up at regular intervals, sometimes for several years, because root resorption or loss of vitality can develop late. We coordinate this monitoring with your dentist so that any change is caught early.