Letters to the editor

‘Clocking’ the cover photograph of the latest issue of Dental Update, showing an avulsed central incisor holding on for dear life by a thread of saliva, I was reminded of a trauma case I saw initially in 2015, and not wishing to be outdone, the lyric ‘Anything you can do I can do better’ (Annie Get Your Gun) rang loudly in my head.

I was getting back into the swing of things after a nice Christmas break when on the 6th January 2015, I received a call from a patient saying her 12-year-old son had had an accident with his skateboard and had knocked out a tooth. The relevant advice was given and she was told to bring him in immediately. On arrival I was presented with a young man with a very swollen lip and bloody mouth and an avulsed front tooth. A very large blood clot was obscuring most of the upper anterior maxillary region.