It’s hard to miss a dental emergency.
Pain, infection, and injuries to the mouth not only hurt, but can affect your ability to eat, speak, and smile. Understanding what qualifies as a dental emergency could save your natural teeth from long-term damage.
If you experience a dental emergency, contact your dentist ASAP.
Is It A Dental Emergency?
A dental emergency refers to situations in which your mouth, jaw, or teeth require immediate medical attention.
While certain injuries need to be treated right away, others may be better treated at your next dental appointment. To determine if you’re experiencing a dental emergency, ask yourself these questions:
- Are you in severe pain?
- Have you lost a tooth?
- Do you have loose teeth?
- Do you have an infection?
- Are you bleeding from the mouth?
If you answer yes to any of these questions, you should see an emergency dentist as soon as possible.
Any dental issue that involves bleeding, severe pain, or tooth loss is considered an emergency. Quick intervention can not only save your teeth, but it could save your life.
Common Dental Emergencies
Toothache
Toothaches can cover a range of things.
The first thing you should do is contact your dentist. If your dentist isn’t open, contact the closest emergency dentist to you. Explain your symptoms and ask to be seen right away.
In the meantime, you can take over-the-counter pain medicine and hold a cold compress to your face where it hurts. Avoid using heat.
Broken Tooth
Chipped or broken teeth can almost always be saved.
Contact your dentist (or emergency dentist) and explain your situation. Small breaks can often be repaired with a filling, while more serious breaks may need a crown or root canal.
Knocked-Out Tooth
If you act quickly, a knocked-out tooth can be saved.
Contact your dentist right away and get in ASAP. Teeth that are put back in after 2 hours have a low chance of taking root again.
If your dentist is unable to save your tooth, they can help you decide on an option to restore your smile.
Badly Bitten Tongue/Lip
A bad bite could require medical attention.
If there is bleeding, press down on the affected area with a clean cloth. Use an ice pack to reduce swelling. If the bleeding is persistent, go to the hospital.
Foreign Object in Teeth
Stuff gets stuck between teeth all the time.
Try using dental floss to gently remove the object. Don’t use a pin or anything sharp to poke between your teeth. If the object won’t come out, book an appointment with your dentist.
Lost Filling
Contact your dentist (or emergency dentist) immediately. You can put a softened piece of sugarless gum over the tooth that lost the filling to protect it for a short period of time.
What To Do if You Have a Dental Emergency
Call Your Dentist First
If you experience any type of dental emergency, the first thing you should do is call your dentist. If your dentist is not available (i.e. the office is closed), you can search for emergency dentists in your area.
If all else fails, go to the hospital. The goal is to get treatment ASAP to minimize the permanent damage to your mouth.
Call your dentist if:
- Your mouth is bleeding
- There’s swelling in/around your mouth
- A tooth is broken or knocked out
- You have persistent pain
Go to the hospital if:
- You have a head or eye injury
- You experience concussion symptoms
- You have a broken bone or dislocation
- You have facial lacerations
Perform First Aid
First aid can help reduce your pain and improve the outcome of any procedures you may need to address your dental problem.
For your mouth injuries, swelling, and toothaches, apply a cold compress to your face in the area of the injury. You can also take pain medication, like Tylenol, or you can use an oral anesthetic to reduce the pain.
Rinsing your mouth with warm salt water can reduce your pain and draw out infections related to a mouth injury or abscess.
You need to know how to perform first aid in order to reduce pain and swelling and find any chips or knocked-out teeth so that they can be inserted back into your mouth.
Does Green Grove Offer Emergency Care?
If you experience a dental emergency, give us a call. We can help you get treatment or refer you elsewhere.