im not sure if this is a dental question or a health question?

Question

I was pulling something really hard today and my hand flew back and hit me in my mouth(i have no idea how it happened lol but somehow my thumb nail lacerated my gum.) It is the space right above my two top teeth. The piece of skin that connects the lip to the gum is no longer attached and the gum is cut all the way down to my tooth. it bled for two hours and i kept spitting blood out but i ended up swallowing a lot cause it was hard to continually stay over a trashcan. so i vomitted a bit and it had the blood in it. I was wondering how bit does a laceration have to be in order to need stitches? the bleeding has almost stopped now so i am not too worried? thanks a lot!

Answer 1

It could be either, dental or health.
There is no set size for a laceration (cut) to need sutures (stitches); it is depth and likelihood of infection that determines whether or not you're a candidate.
Any cut in the mouth bleeds more than a cut elsewhere

That being said, a cut in the mouth has a higher chance of getting infected (due to all the food and foreign objects in it), especially where this happened with your fingernail.

I would call your regular doctor and ask them. The receptionist should connect you to or get your question to a nurse to contact you. If they don't, you could call the emergency department of a local hospital. Chances are, they won't be able to tell you anything over the phone (you could sue, etc..) but if you listen to what they say "between the lines" you can figure out what to do. As an emergency department secretary, I will tell you it helps to be nice. First, ask if they have someone you can ask a medical question; if they say no, tell them you aren't sure whether your laceration needs to be checked or not, but your doctor isn't in the office and no one there can help. At this point, they'd usually rather answer a quick question over the phone than spend hours on a patient that doesn't really need to be there. And they'd be able to ask you more specific questions to give you the answer you need.

Answer 2

You need stitches... for sure! You have severed your labial frenum and the cut in the gingiva (gums over the alveolar ridge) can be very serious.

Answer 3

you might be ok, but you might want to have it looked at. you can go to either an oral surgeon or a medical doctor. buy some amosan so you can heal well. don't use at full strength at first. you can find it at most drug stores.