As 2010 comes to a close, I want to pass on some motherly, dental advice to parents of infants and toddlers out there. Recently, I heard my one year old screaming in his crib over the monitor. As mothers, we usually know the difference in a "I want to get out of my crib scream" versus "something is hurting me scream." I ran into his room to find blood in his crib and on his face. Of course I was shocked and terrified! Then, fortunately for my baby, my dental mind kicked in. Once I discovered that he was bleeding from his mouth, I actually calmed down, for two reasons. One, because I am very versed in handling dental emergencies, and secondly, I know from experience that blood in the mouth USUALLY looks worse than it is. The oral region is very vascular and bleeds heavily if ever there is trauma in the area. Nick busted the inside of his lip (the frenum) when he was trying to teethe and jump at the same time. Hopefully he learned not to do that again. So, I wanted to pass this on to parents who might experience a dental injury with their child. Find the source of bleeding, and apply pressure. Once you stop the bleeding in a minor injury (tongue bite, cheek bite, busted lip or gums), you will see that usually the injury is mild. However, with a tooth being knocked out and serious falls or hits involving head or jaw trauma, please seek immediate medical and dental treatment at your local hospital. On minor cuts to the oral mucosa (mouth tissue), generally pressure will stop bleeding and it will heal almost overnight. However, good luck trying to get a wiggly one year old to let you put pressure inside their mouth. I had him bite on a cold wash rag and eventually stopped the bleeding. Now, any caregiver out there know of any good teething rails? If not, I'll have to make one!
Dr. Helen Bloom Smith
President, Dr. Bloom Inc.
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