Classification of Tooth Fractures

Treatment of traumatized teeth is one of the emergencies in dentistry. It requires good skill, knowledge, experience and presence of mind on the part of the clinician to treat these cases properly. It is important to treat trauma patients on a priority basis to maintain pulp vitality if possible and to timely perform endodontics in pulpally compromised teeth. Timely management is the key to good prognosis in these cases.

Trauma to the teeth may result in either injury of the pulp, with or without damage to the crown and root, or its displacement from its socket. When the crown or root is fractured, the pulp may recover and survive the injury or it may undergo progressive degeneration and ultimately die.

A traumatic dental injury (TDI) results in damage to many dental and periradicular structures. Thus, the management and consequences of these injuries are multifactorial and knowledge of interrelated healing patterns of these tissues is essential.

Traumatic dental injuries have been classified depending on many factors such as etiology, anatomy, pathology, therapeutic considerations and degree of severity. The purpose of classifying dental injuries is to provide a description of specific conditions, allowing the recognition and treatment using recommended remedies.