tetanus and mouth injury?

[KLM99]

My unvaxxed 17MO fell on the playground and split her gum open above her eye tooth. The gum is split and there is bruising around the outside. I was told that it didn't bleed very much, but there is crusty blood around the split. I have a call in to the pediatrician, but I wondered what I can do in terms of first aid for a mouth cut? Usually I put tea tree oil on cuts, but can't do that on her gum. Is there enough circulation in the gums that it isn't a tetanus risk? Or is it? Thanks!

[Marnica]

I definitly wouldn't worry about tetnus. I would have her swish a diluted hydrogen peroxide solution and/or salt water several times a day to keep it clean. Colgate makes a good product I have used a bunch...you can make your own of course but I'm too lazy

[Dmitrizmom]

I really wouldn't worry about the injury. The mouth is one of the fastest areas of the body to heal (great blood supply). More of a worry with deep puncture wounds that don't bleed freely - Clostridium tetani needs an anaerobic environment to grow and cause problems.

I would probably swab the area gently with hydrogen peroxide o a cotton swab, but not much else.

[luminesce]

My 22MO bumped his lip today on the table too. He had a little split and bruising too but I wouldn't worry about tetanus in injuries like these. Wounds associated with tetanus are generally puncture wounds (where circulation is poor and oxygen isn't available.)

In general tetanus has never been a disease of children, even before vaccination. Kids have great circulation.

[KLM99]

Thanks for the reassurance all. I was more worried about her teeth since I lost my two front teeth when I was about her age and I don't want her to have to go through that again too - she really hit the ground hard. I always have that little "what about tetanus" thought in the back of my head though, especially since there wasn't much "first aid" I could do. Indeed - it's already healing up and she's currently eating hard pretzels, so I think we're good. Appreciate it!