EMERGENCY TREATMENT OF ORODENTAL INJURIES - A REVIEW

There has been an increase in the incidence of injuries to the incisor teeth in the primary and permanent dentitions over the last decade; o ne study reported that roughly 35% of 9-year-old children will have da maged their teeth in some way. Much has been written about dental inju ries, and there may be confusion about the appropriate emergency treat ment for different types. Classification and understanding of the type s of injury are essential before diagnosis and treatment can be undert aken. Although dental injuries can occur singly, they more usually inv olve a combination of injuries to a tooth and its supporting structure s. Prompt, accurate diagnosis and appropriate emergency treatment as o utlined in this paper will greatly improve the prognosis for many dent oalveolar injuries. The aim must be to ensure that the third of the po pulation of preteenage children who damage their teeth are not resigne d to loss of an incisor in later life because of inaccurate diagnosis and poor treatment of the emergency condition.