Dental injuries can be caused by a variety of factors, including car accidents, sports injuries, falls, and so on. Some dental injuries are emergencies, while others can be treated later on. When you are in a dental emergency, it is essential to know what to do until you get to the emergency dental clinic.
What Is a Dental Emergency?
Dental emergencies require a quick referral to the emergency dental clinic. Although pain is the main sign of a dental emergency, it is not always accompanied by pain. Generally, dental emergency treatment aims to stop bleeding, relieve severe pain, or save the damaged tooth. Here are some examples of dental emergency:
- Severe tooth pain
- Enamel and dentin fracture
- Persistent bleeding gums
- Dislodged, or luxated tooth
- Avulsed or knocked out tooth
- Swollen face accompanied by tooth pain
- Tooth sensitivity
Keeping Calm Is the First Step!
Usually, dental emergencies happen so quickly that you are not sure what has happened. It is very important to keep calm to choose the right solution. Besides, anxiety prevents you from giving the right information to the emergency dentist, and this will negatively affect the treatment process.
What to Do in Dental Emergencies?
Usually, people are unsure about what to do in an emergency case. If you ignore the emergency dental problems, they may lead to more severe complications in the future. It can increase the risk of permanent damage. Therefore, you will need more expensive treatment later on. There are some guidelines on how to deal with dental emergencies. Here are some of them:
- Severe tooth pain:
There are some reasons for toothache, including trauma, sinus infection, accumulation of food between your teeth, sudden fracture of tooth root, and so on. According to Mayo Clinic, “Tooth decay is the primary cause of toothaches for most children and adults… The first sign of decay may be a sensation of pain when you eat something sweet, very cold or very hot. Sometimes decay will show as a brown or white spot on the tooth.”
In this vase, rinse your mouth with warm water. Use dental floss to remove the plaque and food particles that are trapped between your teeth. A cold compress can help you to reduce swelling and pain. Please note that you should not put crushed aspirin directly on your tooth or gum because it may burn your gum tissues. Try to refer to the emergency dental clinic in the shortest possible time.
- Chipped or broken tooth:
Find all the broken pieces and rinse them with warm water. Also, you should rinse your mouth with warm water. You can use gauze to stop bleeding.
According to East Village Dental Centre, “If you’ve chipped or broken your tooth, you need to get to a dentist as soon as possible. If you can’t get to your dentist the same day, it may still be okay to wait a day unless you are in unbearable pain or there is a lot of bleeding. If you can, call an emergency dentist as soon as you can.”
- Avulsed or knocked-out tooth:
According to Dental Clinic Toronto, “You may lose a tooth to an accident such as falling or a blow to your face. If you ever lose a permanent tooth, try to keep it in a damp environment and refer to a dental emergency clinic. If possible, pick the tooth up by the crown and place it back into the socket without touching the root. If this is not possible, place the tooth between your gums and cheek or store in milk to take it to our trusted emergency dentist office quickly.”
So you should never touch the tooth roots. It is better to reposition the tooth in its socket immediately. If milk isn’t available, your saliva is better than nothing.
In this case, time is an essential factor. If you want to save your tooth, you have to get to the emergency dental clinic within 30 minutes of the injury.
- Dislodged or luxated tooth:
Apply a cold compress on your cheek and refer to the emergency dental clinic so quickly. Taking OTC pain relievers can help reduce pain until getting to the emergency dental clinic.