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Emergency!
Bleeding from the mouth following an injury. This page explains what may be happening and what a dentist may do. Guidance on managing bleeding is being written by a pediatric dentist — until it is here, contact your dentist, or your local emergency services if bleeding is heavy or will not stop.
Call your dentist or your local emergency number.
This section is waiting for reviewed guidance. Step-by-step advice for the first few minutes is being written by a pediatric dentist and has deliberately not been drafted here. Until it appears, contact your dentist or your local emergency services — they can tell you what to do for your child now.
This section is waiting for reviewed guidance too. Things to avoid are as important as things to do, and both belong with the dentist who is writing them rather than with this website.
Bleeding after an injury to the mouth may come from the gum around a tooth, from a cut to the lip, cheek or tongue, or from both at once. The mouth has a rich blood supply, which is why bleeding here can appear more dramatic than the size of the injury.
This page does not tell you how much bleeding is too much, or how long is too long, because those judgements depend on the child and the injury and cannot be made from a web page. If you are asking the question, contact someone who can answer it for your child.
The AAPD describes initial care for orofacial trauma as focusing on pain control, hemorrhage control, wound cleansing, accounting for missing teeth, and confirmation of tetanus immunity. Where soft tissue is involved it states that injuries may require debridement and primary closure.
Assessment will normally cover both the soft tissue and any teeth involved, since the two commonly occur together. If a tooth or fragment cannot be accounted for, the AAPD states radiographs are required to rule out aspiration or its presence in surrounding tissue.
Mouths bleed a lot even when the hurt is small, because there are lots of tiny blood pipes in there. It looks worse than it usually is. A grown-up will help you.
How much bleeding is too much? This page will not answer that, and you should be wary of any page that does without seeing your child. If bleeding is heavy, will not stop, or you are worried, contact your local emergency services. Otherwise contact your dentist and describe what you are seeing.
Not necessarily, and also not something to judge from a description. Mouth injuries bleed readily. What matters is how much, for how long, and what else has happened — all of which need someone who can see your child. Contact your dentist or, if you are worried, emergency services.
Say so immediately when you contact anyone. The AAPD notes that bleeding risk may be affected by medical conditions, and that safe treatment requires a thorough medical history. This is information to volunteer rather than wait to be asked.
No. Bleeding after an injury is different from gums that bleed during brushing, which has its own causes. For the latter see Bleeding gums.
Every clinical statement on this page comes from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry document below. The step-by-step guidance in the sections above is being written separately by a pediatric dentist and is not drawn from this source.
This website is for education only and does not replace care from your dentist, physician, or emergency services.