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Tennis injury may have damaged toothDear Dr. Reitz: Is it possible to injure a tooth by getting hit in the face while playing a sport? About three months ago playing recreational tennis my opponent caught me off guard with a tennis ball to the face. I was a little stunned at the time but just shook it off and finished the match. Today my back tooth on the same side as the injury has started to hurt. Is there a chance I did some damage to the tooth that might have been prevented had I seen my dentist immediately? - Bill Dear Bill: Sports related tooth injury is a common cause of tooth pain. I have seen teeth broken from accidents involving swimming pool bottoms and baseball bats. This is my first tennis ball injury. The impact of the tennis ball either jarred a tooth enough to sever the thin blood vessel entering the root tip. resulting in the death of the pulp, or the tennis ball caused your upper and lower teeth to contact, resulting in a tooth fracture Trauma can do everything from just annoying a tooth to completely knocking it out of its socket. The decision to seek the evaluation of a dentist should be based on the severity of the injury. If the tooth is not displaced or loose, there is often nothing that needs to be done by a dentist immediately after the trauma. Mild tooth trauma can make a tooth tender and sensitive to cold, but within a few days the tooth recovers and the symptoms are gone. More severe trauma can push a tooth beyond its ability to recover, leading to the death of the pulp, which will result in either pain or an abscess. Both situations will require a dentist doing a root canal. If trauma causes a tooth to fracture above the gum line, it can often be restored with either a filling or a crown. A worse situation is a root fracture under the gums. In that case extracting the tooth is the only option. From your description, your situation was not made worse by waiting to see a dentist. Once the trauma occurs there is little either you or your dentist can do to change the fate of the tooth. However, now that the tooth has started to hurt it's time to seek professional help. In all cases of tooth trauma you should contact your dentist for guidance and to monitor the situation. That may include taking periodic X-rays and doing testing of the vitality of the teeth. In that way if professional care is necessary it can be initiated. This column is written by John Reitz, DDS, and does not represent the opinion of the Pennsylvania State Dental Board. Dr Reitz answers questions from readers. E-mail them via his Web site at reitzdds.com or mail to John Reitz, DDS, 30 Commerce Drive, Wyomissing PA 19610 John
V. Reitz, D.D.S., F.A.G.D. Copyright
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