Expert: Rafael Mosery,D.D.S. - 2/21/2007

Question
Dear Rafael,

Thanks for taking time out to help out in the community. As I currently do not have access to a proper dentist in my area, could i kindly seek your professional advice on this.

My 21yr old daughter recently went for an ice skating event with her girlfriends and fell on the face. She mentioned that she had hit her front upper tooth and lightly scratched her lower lips. There has been no sign of chipping and loose ness in the tooth. She however complains of a slight sore when chewing or grinding her tooth and cant bite on hard objects like an apple with her front tooth. It has been slightly over 8 hours after she had fallen and there is no sign of bleeding in the gums whatsoever.

Do you reckon we need to send her in for some form of surgery or is this a minor bruising that will go away after a few days?

Regards,
Martin

Answer
The tooth was traumatized .Keep on a soft diet,avoid biting into hard things with the affected tooth.It Should resolve itself gradually.If there was damage to the tooth internally you would notice this tooth get darker with time.Just keep an eye on it and go easy on the apples etc.If it's sore use some Advil. She should do OK