Our Toronto endodontists offer significant flexibility in their scheduling when it comes to accommodating dental injuries. If you are experiencing a dental injury, contact us to book an appointment.
Dental Injuries & Endodontics in Toronto
If you have a traumatic dental injury, you may be experiencing a severe amount of pain or discomfort. You need a professional to repair the damaged tissue in and around your teeth, and get you smiling again - all while providing compassionate care and service.
At Endodontic Specialists, our endodontists are prepared to treat traumatic dental injuries. Endodontics is an area of dentistry concerned with treating damage or disease that affect the interior of a tooth, specifically the root canals, pulp chamber and root.
We utilize various techniques to save injured teeth from being pulled, eliminate infection and repair damage. As with many injuries, the severity and type of dental injury will determine the treatment that's required.
While most traumatic dental injuries happen to children, anyone can experience this type of injury at any time in their lives. Whether your injury happened while playing sports, or as the result of a vehicle accident or other mishap.
Common Dental Injuries
Accidents, falls or sports injuries can lead to traumatic dental injuries that range from minor incidents (such as a chipped tooth) to more severe (for example, a dislodged tooth).
The treatment you'll require depends on the type of injury, and its location and severity. Regardless of whether you're feeling pain from the injury, it is a good idea to schedule an appointment with an endodontist as soon as possible.
Here are some of the most common dental injuries we see:
Chipped Teeth
Teeth can endure substantial chips or fractures. Most minor chips can be fixed with a dental filling, while more substantial chips or fractures that extend into a tooth's root may need to be repaired with a root canal.
If you have a broken or chipped tooth, make an appointment with your general dentist or one of our endodontists right away.
Dislodged or Avulsed Teeth
A dislodged or avulsed tooth has been displaced from its socket in the alveolar bone. This is a severe traumatic dental injury, often the result of an accident and may result in necrosis (death) of the tissue (pulp) within the root canal space.
We would treat this condition by replanting the tooth and performing root canal treatment as soon as possible.
Root Fractures
Trauma to a tooth may result in a fractured root(s). Sometimes fractures may hide beneath the gum line and are only discovered once infection reaches the pulp of a tooth.
In this case, root canal treatment or extraction of the tooth may need to be performed. If you think your tooth root is fractured, contact our endodontists straight away.
Treatment for Dental Injuries in Toronto
The treatment you'll require depends on the type of injury, and its location and severity. Regardless of whether you're feeling pain from the injury, it is a good idea to schedule an appointment with an endodontist as soon as possible.
Here are a few treatments we use to address dental injuries:
Root Canal
Whenever possible, we prefer to save a natural tooth as opposed to extracting it, which could lead to other dental issues that may be time-consuming and costly to repair. Treating a tooth with a root canal is a comparatively simple and less invasive procedure.
It will also prevent problems such as misalignment issues and deterioration of jaw bone due to missing teeth.
During a root canal, infected material is removed from the pulp (soft tissue) of the tooth, and the tooth is protected against future contamination. The tooth will be filled with medicated dental materials, restoring its function. Without root canal treatment, the tooth would not survive and would need to be extracted.
Tooth Reimplantation
A completely or partially avulsed tooth can sometimes be reimplanted, depending on a number of factors such as the stage of root development, condition of periodontal ligament and others.
If performed shortly after injury, tooth reimplantation can restore your bite (occlusal function in clinical terms) and aesthetics. With tooth reimplantation, the goal is to prevent loss of the supporting bone and allow the patient to save their tooth.
Provided the avulsed tooth has a viable periodontal ligament when reimplanted, the tooth can remain functional for years. In adults, a patient with a reimplanted tooth should have a root canal procedure within 7 to 10 days.