Injuries to the mouth can be pretty scary. The rich blood supply to the mouth, lips, and tongue can make it seem like it’s bleeding a lot. Toddlers are frequently the children injured in the mouth because they’re just learning how to walk and are very much into exploration and frequently fall down.

Table of contents

Types of Mouth Injuries

How to Evaluate a Mouth Injury

What Are Soft Tissue Mouth Injuries?

When to See a Doctor

How to Respond to a Tooth Injury?

Prevention is the Best Medicine

Types of Mouth Injuries

Mouth injuries can be broken down into cuts and scratches to the mouth or inside the mouth, teeth injuries, and mouth burns. Deciding to seek medical care can be scary. It’s often quite panic-inducing to see your child screaming with blood pouring from their mouth. The child is quite upset, and it often triggers parents to be upset. If you can calm yourself, get a hold of the situation, and make an assessment, you can save yourself a lot of grief.

Young children can also burn their mouths very quickly with a phone charging cord that has been left plugged in. The injury can occur within seconds and can be pretty damaging. Do not leave phone cords dangling where your toddler can get to them. This electrical injury needs to be evaluated immediately. Chemicals or hot food can also cause mouth burns.

How to Evaluate a Mouth Injury

-calm your child and assure them you will help them

-make sure there are no other bleeding sites apart from the mouth, including the head and neck

-try to inspect the mouth, including the roof, the gums, the throat, and the teeth

-if there are teeth injuries, try to wiggle them just a little bit to see how loose they are. Sometimes just putting slight downward pressure on them ----can reseat them into their sockets

-make sure they’re breathing okay through their nose and their mouth

-apply gentle pressure to any bleeding site with a clean cloth or bandage; if it’s inside the lip, then press the outside of the lip against the bone or -----teeth to apply pressure and help stop the bleeding

-applying ice or having them suck on an ice cube or a popsicle can help stop the bleeding

-for external lip injuries, clean with warm water and soap if needed

-tongue injuries often look bad, but even relatively large cuts can heal on their own rather quickly

Infections are not very common in the mouth

What Are Soft Tissue Mouth Injuries?

Injuries to the lips are obvious. Sometimes the gums can be cut or bruised which can effect the teeth if it’s bad enough but often is minor. Their is a skin bridge under the upper lip in the midline called the frenulum that can be cut, but again that’s minor. Their is another one under the tongue too. Back in the day they used to snip it if it was thought to interfere with baby’s suckling by limiting forward motion of the tongue. It’s rarely done today, if ever.

When to See a Doctor

-If you’ve applied adequate pressure to a bleeding site, or you’re unable to apply pressure and it’s still bleeding after 10 minutes, go to an urgent care

center or an emergency room

-If there is a significant cut of more than a ¼ inch, this will probably need to be evaluated as well, especially if it’s outside the mouth

-Cuts on the inside of the mouth, including lips, can often heal easily and quickly even though they look huge

-If your child seems to be in extreme pain, this would be another reason to get checked

-Puncture wounds of any kind should be checked as well, including animal bites

-Your dentists should evaluate teeth that are grossly misplaced, displaced, cracked, or fractured. If the office is closed; go to the emergency room

-If there is debris or dirt in a wound, this should be checked as well when you suspect bone injuries because of the way they’re holding their jaw or

the way they look, then get that checked out

-If you are uncomfortable with the situation and want reassurance, then, by all means, get them checked out

-Mouth infections are uncommon

-How to Respond to a Tooth Injury?

-A loosened tooth bleeds a little bit and usually tightens up on its own

-A displaced tooth needs to be evaluated

-A chipped tooth usually is not painful and can be seen by the dentist in the office

-A fractured tooth can be painful and affect the nerve root and may need a root canal to save the tooth, but not urgently. If you see a pink spot on a

tooth, it’s probably the nerve being exposed along with the pulp, indicating a more significant injury

-A knocked-out permanent tooth is an emergency and needs to be re-implanted within two hours

-A knocked-out baby tooth cannot be re-implanted

Prevention is the Best Medicine

Make sure there are no rugs that are easy for your child to slip on. When children learn to walk and run around, make sure they have gripper socks

on or go barefoot so they don’t slip in their stockings. Do not permit running while carrying something, especially not in the mouth. Consider moving or padding the corners of coffee tables etc. Eating should be done while sitting down. Early dental visits for your child can help them become comfortable with your dentist. If the first time they see the dentist is after trauma, it may be challenging for them at future visits. Please discuss with your dentist their advice on mouth and teeth injuries.

Don’t Panic, It’s Going to Be Okay

The vast majority of injuries are fairly minor and a little TLC and reassurance and something cold goes a long way in helping your child.

To Your Good Health,

Kevin McCurry, MD