Do you need to do anything regarding the missing fragment? — ED Management of Dental Trauma in Pediatric Patients
Case Recap:
You are then asked to see a 15-year-old adolescent boy who has come in with a tooth avulsion. He was at basketball practice when another player accidentally elbowed him in the mouth. He did not lose consciousness and has pain only in his mouth. He was immediately brought to your ED, which is about 15 minutes away from where the accident happened. His coach arrives with the boy?s tooth in a container of milk. On physical examination, the patient has lost his right lateral incisor and a clot remains where his tooth had been. How much time do you have to replace the tooth to have the best success of replantation? What do you need to consider while handling, storing, and cleaning the tooth?
Case Conclusion:
For the 15-year-old boy, you decided to replace the tooth as soon as possible. The patient had no other medical problems. You used Yankauer suction and light irrigation to remove the clot from the socket. You held the tooth by the crown, briefly rinsed it off, and used firm, gentle pressure to reinsert the tooth without any difficulty. You had Coe PakTM paste available at your facility, and you created a temporary splint to secure the tooth. You instructed the mother to follow up with the dentist tomorrow and to provide only a soft diet until then. You told the coach and the boy?s mom that, in the future, they should attempt to reimplant the tooth at the time of the accident and instructed them on the steps involved.
Did you get it right?
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Last Updated on January 26, 2023
