What to do if your child bites their lip after a dental procedure

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For a dental procedure, we may use local anesthesia in order to numb a tooth (or teeth) in order to keep your child pain-free during treatment. Depending on the type of local anesthesia, the numbness can linger for a few hours while its wearing off. It can be difficult for a child to know, or even feel, if they are biting, scratching or picking at their lip, tongue or inside of their cheek. It’s a feeling they may not have experienced before. A lip bite can cause swelling, bleeding or ulceration and can be confused with an allergic reaction or infection. These usually heal quickly (without antibiotics) but can take up to a week or so. At Smiles for Kids Pediatric Dentistry, we offer OraVerse (a local anesthetic reversing agent) which helps reduce the amount of time the patient is numb significantly.

During the COVID-19 pandemic when everyone, including children, are wearing masks, it can be hard for parents to monitor or know if they are doing it under the mask. Please remind your child not to bite or chew on their lip while it feels numb. If your child does accidentally bite themselves, here’s what you can do:

  • Apply ice packs for first 3 days. Ice packs should be placed for 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off, for 1 hour, 3 times a day.

  • Give your child over-the-counter Tylenol or Motrin (as directed per manufacturer’s label) for pain.

  • Keep the area clean and maintain good oral hygiene.

  • Avoid anything that might irritate the would such as spicy foods, citrus juices or tomato-based foods.

  • Can rinse with salt water two times a day for 3 days.

  • Apply over-the-counter topical numbing ointments (as directed per manufacturer’s label), but be careful about the child again accidentally traumatizing the area with additional numbing.

If the wound does not heal within a week, or the child has significant bleeding that cannot be controlled, call us at 713-461-1509. Dr. Lindhorst or Dr. Theriot will take a look and let you know if your child needs any further intervention.