Dental trauma is injury to the mouth, including teeth, lips, gums, tongue, and jawbones. Soft tissue injuries to the mouth and dental trauma are typically very painful and should receive prompt treatment. The most common dental trauma is a broken or lost tooth.

Teeth have an outer hard enamel layer, and the dentine is the part of a tooth between the enamel and the pulp. The pulp is the living centre of the tooth and is made up of delicate blood vessels, nerve tissue and cells.

Types of Dental trauma

Fracture

Superficial fracture means the fracture is confined only to the enamel, the hard outer covering of the crown of the tooth. This is usually not serious unless the fracture leaves the tooth with a sharp edge. Even then, the sharp edge can be filed down easily.

Serious fracture: If your tooth becomes sensitive to touch, heat or cold, the fracture may be more serious. It may have exposed the inner, more sensitive parts of the tooth such as the dentine and the pulp. This can increase the risk of bacterial infections.

Displacement

A more severe knock may displace the tooth so that it may sink deeper into the socket or hang loosely out of it. The tooth may be displaced to the side. If the blow is very severe, it may knock the tooth out completely or fracture the supporting bone.
In most cases of tooth displacement, the delicate blood vessels supplying the pulp are damaged and the tooth will require a root canal treatment.