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Emergency!
Where to look first when a tooth gets hurt or something urgent happens.
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Emergency!
An injury to the soft tissues of the mouth rather than to a tooth. This page explains what has happened and what a dentist may do. Guidance for the first few minutes is being written by a pediatric dentist — until it is here, contact your dentist or your local emergency services.
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.
The lip, cheek, tongue or gum has been cut, bitten or torn. Soft tissue injuries in the mouth often accompany an injury to a tooth, and the two are assessed together rather than separately.
One specific point is worth knowing. If a tooth or part of a tooth is also missing and has not been found, the AAPD states that radiographs are required to rule out its having been inhaled or coming to rest within the surrounding tissues — and it gives a fragment embedded in a lip laceration as the example. A soft tissue injury alongside a missing piece of tooth is therefore a reason to be seen.
The AAPD states that soft tissue injuries may require debridement — cleaning the wound — and primary closure. It describes initial care for orofacial trauma as focusing on pain control, controlling bleeding, cleaning the wound, accounting for any missing teeth, and confirming tetanus immunity, which is why you may be asked about vaccinations.
Where an injury is complex, the AAPD notes that consultation with or referral to a specialist may help. Any assessment of your child’s injury belongs with the clinician who can see it.
The inside of your mouth got hurt. Mouths bleed quite a lot even from small cuts, which can look scary. A grown-up will get you checked.
There is a lot of blood — is that normal? Mouth injuries can bleed more than the size of the injury suggests. That is not a reason to ignore it, and this page cannot tell you what is expected in your child’s case. Contact your dentist or, if bleeding is heavy or will not settle, your local emergency services. See also Bleeding after dental trauma.
That is for a clinician to judge. The AAPD states that soft tissue injuries may require debridement and primary closure, which is the clinical term for cleaning and closing a wound. Whether this injury needs it depends on where and how deep it is.
It is precisely why this gets checked. The AAPD states that when a tooth or fragment remains unaccounted for, radiographs are required to rule out aspiration or presence within surrounding tissues, giving a fragment embedded in a lip laceration as its example. Mention it when you call.
Because it forms part of the AAPD’s description of initial care for orofacial trauma, which includes confirmation of tetanus immunity alongside pain control, bleeding control, wound cleansing and accounting for missing teeth. It is a routine question rather than a sign of concern.
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.