False Teeth - Making the Right Choices

Restoring Your Children's Teeth After A Horrible Accident: What To Expect

Tragic accidents happen to children just as easily as to adults. The long-term effects, however, are often longer-lasting. To help your child through a devastating accident will take time, and if he or she needs restorative dentistry as part of the healing process, he/she will need you even more. Cracked, shattered, lost teeth, and/or a busted jaw is incredibly painful, but your dentist can help. Here is what to expect and how to help your child through this set of procedures to restore his/her mouth.

Surgically Reinserting Teeth to Save Them

First, if any of your child's teeth were knocked out during the accident and were saved and preserved, it may be possible to save them by reinserting them into your child's mouth. If they are adult teeth, your dentist will surely want to put these teeth back, if possible. This is done under general anesthesia because of the amount of pain involved in the process. At this same time, the dentist may perform other restorative dental procedures such as caps, crowns, and implants.

Capping/Crowning Cracked Teeth

The next thing the dentist will do is look for cracked teeth that might be saved. These teeth can be capped or crowned, depending on whether they are baby or adult teeth. Baby teeth are usually capped, because they will come out eventually, while adult teeth are crowned to preserve them indefinitely. These will act as anchor teeth for other restorative dentistry procedures.

Removing Badly Damaged Teeth That Will Not Survive and Installing Implants

If your child has one or more teeth that were too badly damaged in the accident, the dentist may decide to remove these teeth rather than try to save the remnants. If they are adult teeth, your dentist may replace them with implants. If they are baby teeth, they are safe to remove and space holders are installed to keep the spaces open for the adult teeth later on.

Wiring the Jaw Shut

Finally, in what is the final procedure to restore your child's mouth post-accident, the dentist wires your child's mouth shut. Your child will need to be on a liquid diet for a few weeks while the jaw mends, and your child will need pain medication to cope with these many oral and dental surgeries. Once the bones have mended, the wires and most other metal appliances (except space savers) are removed. Braces may be needed in the future to realign your child's bite and the teeth that were damaged.

Make an appointment with a clinic like Staller & Gandel D.D.S to get started on your child's recovery.


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