Dental trauma is very common, dental injuries are always an upsetting condition for those who experience it. These traumatic injuries are debilitating and permanent. This tooth trauma occurs in one in four children usually occurs before 19years of age. The management of dental trauma differs between children and adults. Although every dentist is well trained in dental trauma and a specialist called endodontist is further trained for two years after the dental course to take care of injuries inside the tooth.
How will we know that we have nerve damage?
You may experience severe tooth pain while chewing or when you apply pressure. Sensitivity or pain occurs when cold or hot food is taken, discoloration of the tooth, swelling and tenderness in nearby gums, a recurring pimple on the gums and sometime you may not find any symptoms.
What are the causes of nerve damage?
The nerves are located in the pulp- the bundle of nerves at blood vessels at the center of the tooth. There are two categories of nerve pain in teeth a) Pulpal sensitivity and b) Dentinal sensitivity.
Pulpal sensitivity- if you have nerve pain in only one tooth, the problem is likely affecting the tooth pulp. The causes of nerve pain in teeth that affect the pulp include a cracked, chipped, broken tooth, tooth decay, infection, tooth filling, and pressure from clenching or grinding your teeth.
Dentinal sensitivity- this type of nerve pain in the teeth is more common. This pain occurs when the tooth enamel is damaged or eroded away, or due to heat or cold reaches the nerve endings in the dentin layer of the tooth. The main reasons of dentinal sensitivity are using teeth whitening products, receding gums, and untreated cavities. It may also occur due to brushing the teeth too hard or if you have undergone any gum surgery that exposes the roots of the tooth may cause nerve pain in teeth.
Can it be repaired?
There are many types of dental procedures that can help you to get relief from tooth nerve pain. There are two common procedures for tooth nerve pain; they are fillings and root canal.
Filling- Filling is the common procedure if you have a pain that is caused by a simple cavity. The dentist will numb the area and removes the decayed material and does the filling in that area.
Root canals- this procedure is done when a tooth is severely infected or decayed. A dentist will remove the damaged nerve and the pulp from inside the tooth, cleans the infected area and seals it. The root canal will cure some types of tooth nerve pain.
Is Traumatic dental injury is different in children?
Generally, chipped baby teeth can be restored. When a primarytooth is dislodged it is not implanted again. The primary tooth which is knocked outis normally not replanted because it may cause damage to the permanent teeth that are growing inside the bone. The injured permanent teeth that are not fully grown need special attention and careful follow up. Not all the injured teeth require a root canal. Some teeth will have viable blood supply allowing the tooth to grow continuously despite the injury, the dentist or endodontist will do all the necessary things to save the natural tooth, and treat the incompletely formed roots in children so that the roots can continue to develop.
Does tooth require any additional treatment or special care?
After an injury, the factors that may affect the tooth include- the nature of the injury, the time taken to get treatment, the care taken after the injury, and your body’s response. In order to prevent the root resorption for the knocked-out teeth, treatment should be given as soon as possible. Resorption happens when your body, through its own defense mechanisms, starts to reject your own tooth in response to the traumatic injury. After an injury, you should visit your dentist for examining or to get treated on a regular basisfor up to five years to ensure that root resorption does not occur and the surrounding tissues continue to heal.
Recovery from nerve damage- Home remedies-
When you have tooth nerve pain, the area around it will be very sensitive before or after a dental procedure. So it is very important to maintain oral hygiene to prevent further tooth decay or infection.