Breakages, Fractures, and Lacerations

Accidents can’t always be avoided, and can often occur if we don’t take the right precautions in contact sports or in our daily life, it’s helpful to get to know a bit about what problems can affect your teeth after an injury, along with a their medical names – a little dental knowledge can go a long way in an emergency! There are numerous injuries that can befall our teeth, let’s take a look at some of the common dental traumas that arrive at the surgery every day, in particular fractures and breakages, and lacerations. If you experience any of these problems, the Pearl Dental Clinic provides a twenty-four hour emergency dental service, give them a call and they should be able to refer you for treatment within a day.

Breakages:

Avulsion – This is the dreaded knocked-out tooth, a strong enough knock or impact can remove the tooth from its socket completely, from crown to root. Because the nerves and ligaments have been severed, it’s usually quite difficult to reattach an avulsed tooth.

Intrusion – If the tooth is pushed upwards into the bone and embedded in the soft tissue at an angle, this is known as intrusion. A trauma that impacts on the tip of the tooth is the cause of this; breaking too hard and falling over the handlebars of a bicycle is a typical accident resulting in intrusion.

Extrusion – The opposite of intrusion, instead of being pushed further into the socket, the tooth becomes loose and displaced after an injury. The ligaments are often damaged in this type of accident, and the tooth will appear to be falling out of the socket or twisted away from its original position, with some of the root showing.

Concussion – This is not just something that affects the head, teeth can suffer concussion too if the ligaments are damaged. Concussed teeth feel loose and may display some mild to moderate toothache – depending on the extent of the injury. It’s not usually a permanent state and the teeth should recover after a few weeks.

Subluxation – The tooth is not displaced in this instance, but the supporting structures and ligaments are damaged as a result of a sudden impact to the front of the teeth. The tooth will become unsteady in the socket, but the root itself is not injured, so it should be able to heal and eventually stabilise.

Lateral luxation – Heavy impact to the front of the tooth bends it in the socket and causes the root to become embedded in the gum line, pointing the tooth at an angle. They move in the socket but don’t fall out, and are similar to extruded teeth in that the strong ligament holding the tooth in place is severed. Lateral luxation also comes with other complications such as fractures to the bone.

The different types of fractures don’t always cause pain, but can lead to other problems, like infection. They are not as urgent or traumatic as breakages, but they do need immediate attention before the injured tooth deteriorates further.

Fractures:

Enamel infraction – Just chewing a hard sweet too enthusiastically can cause small cracks to occur on the surface of the teeth, they don’t tend to affect the structure of the tooth and can easily be filled with composite bonding.

Enamel fracture – This also only affects the enamel layer of the teeth, but is characterised by the loss of small areas of the tooth. A chip like this can happen quite easily with a small impact to the tooth that catches the thin edges of the enamel

Enamel-dentin fracture – This is a large chip that breaks off a corner or tip and goes deeper than the enamel. The fracture doesn’t affect the pulp chamber, so the threat of infection is minimal. A simple restorative procedure should help to rebuild the broken section.

Enamel-dentin-pulp fracture – Also called a ‘complicated crown fracture’, this type of fracture leaves the pulp at risk of infection, as the crack goes right through to the delicate nerve centre. In most adult cases, the treatment is to perform a root canal and cap the tooth.

Root fracture – Like enamel fractures, it’s possible to crack the root in two different ways. A simple root fracture that affects just the cementum and the dentin is might hurt but won’t require a root canal treatment. The complicated variety breaks through the root and exposes the pulp, leaving it open to bacteria and other damage.

Alveolar fracture – This type of extensive damage usually involves more than one tooth, heavy impact cracks the bone which houses the roots, causing it to break away and damaging the ligaments holding it in place. The teeth and bone fragment will typically be mobile when touched, but still attached to the rest of the jaw.

Lacerations or bruising might not be as complicated to treat as breakages and fractures, but they can still be fairly traumatic for the patient. Open wounds in the mouth are at risk of infection and can cause a lot of pain.

Laceration – This occurs when a sharp object is thrust into the soft tissue of the cheeks or gums, how serious the cut is depends on its depth and location. Dentists sometimes suggest antiseptic mouthwash during the healing period for this kind of injury, as preventing infection is usually a top priority.

Contusion – Also known as a bruise, being struck with a blunt object causes haemorrhaging under the skin, but there is no outside bleeding. Swelling usually accompanies a contusion, and dentists should check for bone fractures beneath the bruise, as the two often go hand in hand.

Abrasion – This is a type of graze in the mouth that leaves a raw, bleeding surface. Typically, this is not a serious problem, but could bring more serious complications, if left untreated.