Grody Teeth FTW

Here it is, folks: the eagerly anticipated Grody Teeth Post! This kid came through the clinic and was a patient of Dr. Mackley, whose station was right next to us. This whole procedure was a lot of fun, and made more so because he day before this patient, he and my dad had been talking about extractory implants (I will explain shortly. I'm not sure that's the technical name for it), which is something Dr. Mackley had never considered before.

This young man came in with his teeth looking like this.

Obviously this was a problem. The front tooth with the hole in it was accessed for a root canal, but it was deemed unable to save. The really cool thing about teeth that most people don't realize is that if a tooth is avulsed (avulsion: the forcible tearing away of a body part by trauma or surgery), it can be put back in the socket and function normally for years to come. It requires a root canal because the nerve inside the tooth has been damaged and will eventually die, but once that has been done, the tooth is safe! My dad does this in his office from time to time. If a tooth is too loose for treatment, he will pop it out and do a root canal on it and then stick it back in where it was before. It's totally cool.

Replacing an avulsed tooth soon after the trauma occurs is the best thing you can do. Implants or bridges are fine replacements, but nothing is better than a natural tooth. After the avulsed tooth is replaced in the socket, the periodontal ligament can reattach and hold the tooth in place like it never came out. Neat, huh?

I digress. Back to the grisly procedure.

After consulting with my dad, Dr. Mackley did a root canal on the tooth behind the bad one, which was promptly extracted, along with another couple of teeth. As you can see, a lovely empty socket remained.

Cleaning out the socket with sodium hypochlorite, more commonly known as bleach.

Extracted teeth.

This isn't necessary, but the replacment tooth is rolled in a little antibiotic powder before insertion.

The tooth is placed in the empty socket of the bad one.

That's it! No cement or glue needed - the periodontal ligament works its magic fast.

I don't have a good picture of the kid before his procedure, but I can attest that his mouth looks leaps and bounds better than it did before.

Now you can see why this was my favorite procedure of the trip, even if it wasn't technically ours.

Also, a lesson is to be learned here: if you or someone you know has a tooth knocked out for some reason, gently rinse it off (avoid touching the root as much as you can) and stick it right back in the socket. If this isn't possible, place in the mouth next to cheek (don't swallow it!) or in a glass of milk. The important thing is to keep it from drying out, which will cause the tooth to fail. Then call your dentist, pronto.

:D I love dentistry.