Auto accidents, depending on their severity, can result in any number of bodily injuries. While traumatic brain injuries, whiplash, back injuries, and internal bleeding are often the first things that come to mind when hearing about a car accident, the dental injuries that some people endure can be painful and devastating.
The Emotional Challenge of Dental Trauma
Whether driver or passenger in a car, there are plenty of hazards within a vehicle that can cause dental trauma, including the steering wheel (whether or not the airbag deploys), seats, dashboard, broken glass, and cargo within the vehicle. While you may have serious bodily injuries that take priority when it comes to treatment, dental trauma can be physically – and mentally – harrowing.
Dental trauma can cause serious personal strife. When your jaw is broken, your teeth are knocked out, or your smile as you know it has been shattered, it can be mortifying to show your face in public, especially if you need to allow time for healing before any restorative dentistry procedures can be done to repair your teeth and mouth.
A person’s smile is the focal point of their face. It’s the element of your appearance that tells others how you’re feeling. Your confidence can easily be damaged as you work through the many layers of recuperation that come after a major auto accident. 4 restorative dentistry solutions for a broken crown >>
Car Accident Dental Injuries and Restorative Dentistry Repairs
Teeth are detailed little structures that work independently and as part of a team. While the enamel of your teeth can easily be damaged in a car accident, the inner makeup of your teeth can also endure serious harm. Some of the most common dental injuries that happen in an auto accident include:
- Dislodged teeth: Your tooth could be pushed out of its socket, pushed deeper into its socket, or pushed sideways. Sometimes called tooth luxation, a tooth that is loose in the mouth but not completely knocked out typically needs to be pushed back into its original position by a dentist.
- Avulsed teeth: A tooth that is knocked out of your mouth during a car crash is called an avulsed tooth. In many cases, the tooth cannot be saved – the repair must be made within a few hours and the natural tooth properly contained and both elements are often impossible to achieve – and must be replaced with an artificial tooth. The restoration of missing teeth can happen with dental implants or, depending on how many teeth have been lost, partial dentures, complete dentures, or a bridge.
- Fractured teeth: The seriousness of a fractured tooth can vary. If only the tooth’s enamel has been fractured, the repair is usually simple and requires only a porcelain dental crown or dental bonding to cover the rough edges. If the fracture goes through the enamel and hits the dentin layer of your tooth, the tooth will be tender. And if the pulp layer is also affected, the tooth may be visible red, pink, or even bloody. In the cases where the fracture goes beyond the surface of the tooth, root canal therapy may be necessary to eliminate infection and save your natural tooth. After the root canal, a crown will still need to be placed to make the tooth functional again. If the root is fractured quite deeply, the recommendation may be to pull the tooth entirely and replace it with a prosthetic.
- Chipped teeth: Because dental trauma in an auto accident can happen in a variety of ways – for example, your mouth directly hits an object or is hit by a flying object or your jaws are forced together – the exact source of your chipped tooth may not be known. Luckily, this dental injury is one of the least worrisome, as chips can easily and seamlessly be corrected with a cosmetic dentistry procedure, typically porcelain veneers.
Restorative Dentistry Repairs for Your Damaged Teeth
While it may feel like life is in limbo after a car accident, and that you will never be the same again, know that your smile is not irreparably damaged. Dentists have seen incredibly troubled mouths, whether ravaged by periodontal disease or hurt in a car accident. Solutions exists, and they are possible for you. Contact Dr. Shaista Najmi at Ivory Dental in Jacksonville, Florida, to discuss the options for your needs. Dr. Najmi specializes in emergency dental care when you need a dentist who can handle your dental trauma properly and quickly after an auto accident. Missing teeth? The shape of your face will change >>