How to Handle A Dental Emergency

Dental emergencies are most often stressful, painful, and scary situations for people of all ages. You only get one permanent smile, so protecting it from severe damage is essential. Knowing how to handle dental emergencies before they ever occur is the best method of ensuring that you take the proper steps in saving your smile.

A knocked out tooth is the most obvious and typically the most dreaded type of dental emergency. Not only is a knocked out tooth painful (because obviously there was some type of painful contact that caused the tooth to be knocked out), but it also presents a dire situation. Once a tooth has been severed from its tooth roots, it will immediately begin to die because it has been cut off from its blood supply and lifeline. In order for a tooth to be saved, it must successfully be reconnected with its roots in a very short amount of time. These steps must be taken:

1. Find the tooth and/or all of its pieces. Rinse them gently without scrubbing.
2. Try to tenderly place the tooth back into its socket.
3. If unsuccessful at placing the tooth, keep it moist in a small amount of milk or your own saliva.
4. Get to your dentist immediately.

These four steps do not guarantee successful reestablishment of a knocked out tooth, but they provide the best chance for success.

While a knocked out tooth is a recognizable dental emergency, it is often the lesser emergency situations that tend to get people into a great deal of trouble. These are the criteria for what constitutes a dental emergency:

• Tooth pain
• Swelling in the mouth
• Extreme tooth sensitivity
• Dental bleeding
• An injured jaw
• An infection or abscess in the mouth
• A lost filling
• A knocked out tooth
• A damaged dental bridge or crown
• A cracked or broken tooth

The mouth is unlike the rest of the body in that it does not promote self-healing. There are millions of bacteria present inside the mouth on a daily basis, and these bacteria prevent the mouth from recovery on its own. Any type of damage or infection will only grow worse if it is allowed to fester. Any type of pain or discomfort is an indicator that something is wrong. While most of these criteria do not demand immediate attention, they should not go longer than three days without evaluation from your dentist. Do not make the mistake of thinking that these issues are not that big of a deal – they are! Bacteria thrive inside the mouth and will cause infection, damage, and decay to spread at an alarming rate.

Pristine Dental is here for your dental emergencies. Please contact us right away should any type of dental emergency arise. We are here for you.