Mouth Injuries In Toddlers: When to Call The Doctor

The toddler stage is where your child wants to explore. They like going up and down, hiding underneath the table, running around the house, and if possible, they do even the most dangerous activities they could think of. This is the reason why mouth injuries in toddlers are prevalent. But you don’t need to worry because there is plenty of equipment to prevent oral injuries. Furthermore, minor mouth injuries can be treated at home. If you need emergency help, Woonona Dentists’ dental services near Wollongong can help you out. Check out this link to visit their site.

Causes of Mouth Injuries in Children

Toddlers and children are prone to falling over due to their active movements. They could get injured through sports, falling, climbing, and running. A mouth injury might also occur if they keep pushing certain objects inside their mouth. Your child’s mouth may also get injured if he eats something hot.

There are three different types of mouth injury, these includes:

• scratches and cuts inside the mouth (roof of the mouth, tongue, gums, lips)
• teeth injuries, including knocked out tooth, displaced, cracked, and chipped teeth
• mouth burns

The need to run to the children’s hospital will depend on how severe the injury is. If it’s a minor case, you may opt to try first aid treatments before you call your doctor.

Mouth Injury First Aid

As a parent, it’s normal for you to panic when your child gets hurt. Sometimes, even the slightest scratch may cause you to worry so much. But knowing the essential home treatments may help.

Here are some of the things that you must do to help your child:

1. Calm your child and tell them that you will be there to help.
2. Check if your child’s head is swelling and see if other parts bleed apart from their mouth.
3. Inspect the back of the throat, the inner cheeks, upper and lower mouth, and the child’s tooth.
4. Monitor their breathing.
5. Apply several minutes of direct pressure on the affected area with a clean cloth.
6. If the wound is outside the mouth, like the lip, clean the wound with warm water and soap.
7. To stop the bleeding and swelling, put ice on the wound or ask your child to suck a cube of ice.
8. You may also opt to give them pain relief medication to ease the discomfort.
9. If the wound is inside the mouth, ask your child to rinse with cool water. Give him an ice pop or a piece of ice to suck to stop bleeding.

Additional Tips

Aside from taking care of your child, it’s also important to note the do’s and don’ts to ensure that the wounds won’t get infected and scarred.

• The first thing to consider is to avoid blowing on the wound. Doing so will spread germs and thus, result in complications.
• Apply a cold compress to the swelling area and do this every 10 minutes.
• After 24 hours, check the wounds and see if there is any progress. If signs of infection are starting to show, it’s probably time for emergency treatment.

Diet

It will also help if you will make some changes to your child’s diet during recovery. For instance, please provide them with soft meals until their wounds have healed and make sure that they drink enough water. Drinks like sherbet, milkshakes, and cold beverages help in speedy recovery.

Avoid giving them foods that require chewing as it might irritate the wound. In addition, spicy, salty, and citrus foods should be avoided as well.

When to Call the Doctor

If the injury is too big and bleeds excessively, your child may need stitches. In situations like this, taking them to the hospital is the best thing to do. Generally, go to the doctor if your child is:

Bleeding

The gums, lips, and tongue have a rich blood supply. That is why even the most minor cuts can cause excessive bleeding. If your child is bleeding for more than 10 minutes despite putting pressure on the injury, take them to the emergency department immediately.

Severe Pain

Children can be overdramatic. But if you suspect that your child is in extreme pain, which causes them to avoid eating properly, give your doctor or dentist a call. Trauma to the mouth can be very frustrating, and they might lose appetite, which might affect their nutrition.

Trouble breathing and swallowing

Rarely, injuries to the mouth might also affect their breathing, and this only indicates one thing, their nasal passage is also impacted.

Other Things to Consider:

Overall, it is always up to you if you are going to seek professional help or not. However, if you are concerned about the welfare of your child, here are some of the other things that you need to consider before getting medical treatment:

• a puncture wound causes the injury
• deep wounds
• due to animal bite
• non stop bleeding
• gaping cut that may need stitches
• dental health concerns

References:

Cuts and Wounds of the Mouth and Lips (https://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/cuts-and-wounds-mouth-and-lips)

First aid: Oral trauma (mouth and teeth injuries) in infants and toddlers (https://healthengine.com.au/info/first-aid-oral-trauma-children)