Treating a Hurt Lip or Tongue

Children can sometimes receive a blow to the face or fall down and receive an injury to their lips or tongue. If your child has an oral emergency like this happens, Dr. Hardy, Dr. Bushell and our team encourage you to remain calm. You may want to visit the emergency room if the injury is severe. We offer some tips on how to help your child treat an injured lip or tongue.

First, use a wet washcloth to gently clean away any blood from the lip or mouth so that you can better assess the severity of the injury. Your child can rinse their mouth with a lukewarm saltwater solution rinse away any lingering blood or debris from the oral cavity and soothe any mouth tissues that have been irritated. If persistent bleeding occurs, you can apply sterile gauze to the wound to maintain pressure.

If any swelling occurs around the injury, we invite you to apply a cold compress to the outer lip. If you don’t have a cold compress, you can create one by filling a zip-top bag with ice and wrapping it in a washcloth and then have your child hold it to their face for intervals of about 15 to 20 minutes.

If your child bit their tongue and is experiencing persistent bleeding, you can cover the tongue in layers of sterile gauze and have your child press their tongue to their mouth roof so that the constant pressure can help stop any bleeding. Monitor your child to help them not swallow a lot of blood so that they don’t experience nausea and an upset stomach.

If you have further questions about treating a child’s dental emergency in Herriman, Utah, we encourage you to call Copper Cove Pediatric Dentistry at 801-446-2080 today to speak with our pediatric dentist.