| MIDDLE CHILDHOOD • 5–10 YEARS |
Anticipatory Guidance (continued)
Injury Prevention
- Learning how to prevent oral injuries and handle oral emergencies, especially the loss or fracture of a tooth.
If a permanent tooth is knocked out,
the parent or other adult should
(1) find the avulsed (lost) tooth,
(2) hold it by the crown (top part)
only, not the root, (3) rinse it under
cold water gently if the root is dirty,
but do not scrub, (4) reinsert it into the
socket quickly, making sure that the
front of the tooth is facing you, and
(5) take the child to the dentist immediately.
If it is not possible to replace
the tooth, place the tooth in a container
of cold milk or in a cold wet cloth
and take the child and the tooth to a
dentist immediately.
- Because of the danger of damaging the underlying permanent teeth, never attempt to reinsert an avulsed (lost) primary tooth. It is impossible to relocate the tooth accurately, and there is danger of pushing it too far into the soft alveolar bone.
- If a tooth is fractured or chipped, the parent or other adult should (1) rinse the child’s mouth with water, (2) apply cold compresses to the cheek to reduce swelling, and (3) take the child to the dentist immediately.
- Using an appropriate car safety seat in the back seat of the vehicle at all times. Children should ride in a forward-facing car safety seat until they reach the weight or height limit of the seat, after which they should ride in a belt-positioning booster seat with a lap and shoulder belt. Children should ride in a booster seat until the vehicle’s safety belt fits properly without a booster seat— when the shoulder belt lies across the chest, not the neck or the throat, the lap belt is low and snug across the thighs, not the stomach, and the child is tall enough to reach the vehicle seat back with the legs bent at the knees and feet hanging down.
- Being aware that the risk of injury is higher during periods of rapid growth.
- Ensuring that the child wears protective gear when participating in physical activities or sports that could potentially result in injuries to the mouth, such as biking, riding a scooter, skateboarding, in-line skating, or playing baseball, soccer or lacrosse.
- Teaching the child about injury prevention, including the need to wear protective gear such as a mouth guard, a face protector, and a helmet.
- Providing the child’s caregivers with the dentist’s emergency phone contacts, and ensuring that the caregivers know how to handle oral emergencies.