Facial Trauma & Jaw Fractures
A road accident on the bypass, a fall from a scooter, an elbow during a cricket match. In the hours afterwards nobody is thinking clearly, and the questions that matter are simple ones: is something broken, is it serious, and who should look at it. This page answers those in plain words.
✓ We reply within 15 minutes during clinic hours (Mon-Sat 10 AM-2 PM & 5 PM-8 PM)
If the injury just happened, start here
Heavy bleeding, difficulty breathing or swallowing, a blackout or confusion, vomiting, or clear fluid running from the nose all need a hospital emergency room first, not a dental clinic. That is the correct order, and we support it.
→ Read our Emergency page for what to do in the first hour, or call us while you travel: 0184-407 3774. Once the patient is stable, the facial and jaw injuries are ours to treat, at the hospital or here at the clinic.
What counts as facial trauma?
Facial trauma covers any injury to the bones and soft tissues of the face: the lower jaw (mandible), the upper jaw (maxilla), the cheekbone, the bones around the eye socket, the nose, and the teeth and gums themselves. In Karnal, most of what we see comes from two-wheeler accidents, falls at home or at work, and sports injuries.
The important thing to understand is that skin injuries and bone injuries are separate. A face can look almost untouched and still have a fractured jaw underneath, and a face with heavy bruising can have no fracture at all. Only an examination together with the right X-ray or CT scan can tell the difference.
Injuries to the teeth are part of the same picture, and the thin bone holding the teeth often breaks along with them. These are treated at the same time as the rest of the injury wherever possible, so you are not sent from one doctor to another.
Facial trauma is the core of oral and maxillofacial surgery, the specialty trained specifically in the bones, teeth, nerves and soft tissues of the face. At this clinic that assessment is done by Dr. Nainik Mehta, MDS, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery.
Signs that a bone may be broken
No sign here proves a fracture on its own, and having one does not mean surgery. They are simply the signals that say: get this looked at rather than waiting to see how it settles.
Get it examined soon if…
✓ Your teeth no longer meet the way they used to, or biting feels off by even a small amount
✓ You cannot open your mouth fully, or the jaw shifts to one side as it opens
✓ The lower lip, chin or cheek feels numb, tingly or "asleep"
✓ The cheek looks flattened, the face looks uneven, or one eye seems to sit lower
✓ You are seeing double
✓ A tooth is loose, displaced, chipped or missing after the impact
Please do not do these while you wait
✗ Do not keep testing your bite by clenching hard; it can move a fracture further
✗ Do not press, probe or clean deep inside a wound at home
✗ Do not apply heat to a swollen area; a cold compress on the outside is safer
✗ Do not scrub a knocked-out tooth or wrap it in tissue; keep it in milk and come quickly
✗ Do not ignore numbness because it is not painful; it is information a surgeon needs
Children are a special case. Their bones bend more than they break and their growth can be affected by an injury near a joint, so a low threshold for getting a child checked is sensible.
What happens at the clinic, step by step
History and examination
How the injury happened tells the surgeon a great deal about what to look for. Your face and neck are examined gently, your bite is checked, mouth opening is measured, and feeling in the lip, chin and cheek is tested and recorded. Any blackout, vomiting or memory gap may mean a hospital review first.
Imaging to see the whole picture
An OPG X-ray, and where needed a CT or 3D scan, shows which bones are broken, whether the pieces have moved, and how the tooth roots and nerve canals sit in relation to the fracture. If you already have scans from a hospital, bring them; repeating them is avoided where possible.
An honest explanation of what is broken, and what is not
You and your family are shown the images and told plainly which findings need treatment and which do not. Some fractures are undisplaced and heal well with a soft diet and careful review, nothing more. Saying so is part of the job.
Treatment, matched to the injury
This ranges from cleaning and closing soft-tissue wounds and splinting loose teeth, through re-implanting a knocked-out tooth where the timing allows, to bracing the teeth together or open surgery to reposition the bone and hold it with small titanium plates and screws. Larger repairs are done under general anaesthesia in a hospital operating theatre in Karnal; smaller ones are often possible under local anaesthesia at the clinic.
Planned follow-up until healing is confirmed
You are reviewed at set intervals so that healing, bite alignment and returning sensation are checked rather than assumed. Follow-up happens here at the clinic even when the surgery took place at a hospital.
The honest answers
Does every fracture need surgery?
No. A fracture where the bone ends have not moved, and the bite is unchanged, is often managed without an operation: soft diet, jaw rest, medicines and close review. Surgery is advised when the pieces have shifted, the bite is disturbed, or the fracture will not hold still on its own.
How much does it hurt?
The injury itself is usually the most painful part, and often already easing by the time you reach the clinic. During repair you are either fully numbed or asleep, so the procedure is not felt. Afterwards, expect soreness and swelling peaking around day 2 to 3, controlled with prescribed medicines.
Will there be a scar?
Wherever possible, incisions go inside the mouth or into natural creases and hairlines, so nothing new is visible. Where the accident already tore the skin, the wound is repaired in layers, but any full-thickness skin injury leaves some mark. Scars soften over many months; no one can promise an invisible result.
Recovery and aftercare
The first week. Swelling and bruising are worst around day 2 to 3, then settle steadily. Cold compresses help early on, sleeping with the head raised helps more than people expect, and medicines work best taken on schedule rather than only when pain returns.
Eating and mouth care. For a jaw fracture, a soft or liquid diet is usually needed for several weeks, commonly around 4 to 6, and your surgeon will say when to progress. Dal, khichdi, curd, soups, milk, eggs and blended dishes all count, and keeping nutrition up genuinely speeds healing. Gentle cleaning with a prescribed rinse keeps the site and any splint clean, which matters because infection is the main avoidable complication.
Getting back to normal. Most people with a simple fracture return to desk work or classes within 1 to 2 weeks, while heavy physical work, gym and contact sports wait until the bone has united, generally around 6 weeks or longer. Jaw stiffness after bracing is normal and improves with the gentle opening exercises you will be shown.
What to report immediately. Increasing pain after day 3, spreading swelling with fever, a bad taste or discharge, a bite that suddenly feels wrong, or a loose splint. These are worth a call, not a wait: 0184-407 3774.
Facial injury questions, answered straight
The cut on my face is small. Do I still need a check-up?
How soon after an accident should a facial fracture be treated?
Will my jaw be wired shut?
My lower lip and chin feel numb since the injury. Is that permanent?
Do the plates and screws have to be removed later?
What should I bring if the injury was treated at a hospital first?
Not sure whether it needs a surgeon?
Describe what happened and what you are noticing now, especially anything about the bite, mouth opening or numbness. You will be told plainly whether this needs an X-ray, a visit, or a hospital first.
We reply within 15 minutes during clinic hours.