Dental trauma in children
Identify the injured tooth as primary or permanent, assess displacement and associated injuries, and document baseline findings and follow-up.
Understand
Trauma may involve tooth, alveolus, soft tissue or wider head injury. Primary and permanent teeth need different treatment priorities to protect the developing successor.
Assess
Establish time, mechanism, loss of consciousness, missing fragments, occlusion and baseline sensibility. Identify displacement and check for embedded fragments or aspiration risk.
Apply
Use current trauma guidance for repositioning, splinting and follow-up. Give written advice and record the tooth type; never replant an avulsed primary tooth.
Key distinctions
Trauma assessment includes the child as a whole: head injury, soft tissue wounds, alveolar fracture and missing tooth fragments may be more urgent than tooth repair. Permanent immature incisors have special healing potential, while primary tooth treatment must protect the successor. Use current IADT or local trauma guidance for precise splinting and follow-up intervals.
Think through a case
A toddler's avulsed primary incisor is brought in a cup. Do not replant it; assess for associated injury and plan follow-up for the permanent successor.
The distinction to remember
Do not apply a permanent-tooth trauma protocol to primary dentition. Identify the tooth before acting.
Test your recall
Why avoid assuming a loose tooth is permanent?
Show answer
Management differs substantially between primary and permanent teeth.