How to Handle Common Dental Emergencies?
Dental emergencies can occur at any time and in any place. For example, you may suffer an impact on your mouth if involved in contact sports resulting in an injury or trauma to your mouth, leading to bleeding, lacerations, and even fractured teeth. Oral injuries can cause stress and pain making it essential to schedule a dental visit for examination and treatment immediately to prevent additional damage and complications.
Dental emergencies involving injuries to the teeth and gums can potentially harm your oral health to indicate you need prompt treatment. Below are some common dental problems and suggestions for managing them during an emergency.
Toothaches: When experiencing a toothache, rinsing your mouth thoroughly with warm salt water and using dental floss to remove trapped food particles between your teeth and gums helps. You can use a cold compress if you notice swelling in the mouth. However, you must avoid putting aspirin or painkillers against the gums near the painful tooth because it can cause tissue burns. If the pain is persistent and aggravating, you must contact the emergency dentist near you without delay for help.
Knocked-out Tooth:
If you have a knocked-out tooth from an accident or sporting activity, pick up the tooth holding it by the crown.
Rinse if dirty without scrubbing the roots.
Insert the tooth into its socket if possible or place it in a tiny milk container and get to the nearby emergency dentist as soon as possible.
Chipped or Broken Teeth:
Your teeth can chip or break when least expected, like having food or during childbirth. In such cases, you must try to save pieces of the tooth and apply gauze to the tooth if you experience bleeding. You can also use a cold compress on your cheeks to alleviate pain and swelling. Finally, you must contact the dentist immediately to receive treatment for the chipped or broken tooth.
Soft Tissue Injuries:
the soft tissues of your mouth, such as the lips, tongue, and cheeks, can sustain injuries resulting in bleeding. In such incidents, rinse your mouth using a mild water solution and apply a moistened gauze or teabag to the bleeding area. Use a cold compress on your cheeks to control bleeding and alleviate pain. However, if the bleeding persists, you must contact the emergency dentist in Harriston, ON, to ensure you receive appropriate treatment to overcome the situation.
Broken Orthodontics:
Broken wires and brackets when receiving orthodontic treatment can result in extreme discomfort in the mouth. You can use a pencil eraser to push the wire into a comfortable position. If you cannot reposition it, you can cover its end with orthodontic wax or a tiny cotton ball until you can get to the dental office. However, remember not to cut the wire because you might swallow it or breathe it into your lungs.
Broken Crowns or Fillings:
Dental restorations like fillings and crowns do not last forever on your decayed or damaged teeth. They can dislodge with time to create anxiety. However, although you need help from a dentist as soon as possible to restore the restorations, it is not a cause of concern because you can wait for a day until you can get to the nearest dentist seeking a remedy for the missing restoration. Dentists can fill a decayed tooth immediately after examining it and removing any additional decay. Dental crowns require a couple of weeks for replacement because they need customization from a dental laboratory before replacing them in your mouth. You can manage the lost filling by using sugar-free gum. The dentist you visit to replace the dental crown will provide a temporary acrylic crown for you to wear over your exposed tooth until the dental lab returns your permanent restoration.
Dental emergencies undoubtedly cause anxiety and stress making you think you must rush to the nearest dentist, which is an excellent idea. However, it helps to understand how to manage dental emergencies until you can reach a dentist to receive appropriate treatment.
Most dental emergencies, except for accidents, result from negligence and improper dental hygiene. Therefore it helps if you adopt safeguards like using mouthguards when involved in sporting activities and maintaining excellent dental hygiene, besides getting six monthly exams and cleanings to ensure no problems are developing in your mouth that might result in a dental emergency.
If you need emergency dental services for any circumstances described in this article, Harriston Family Dentistry provides prompt treatment as soon you visit them without waiting in a queue. Approach them whenever you confront a dental situation after using the tips mentioned above to manage it and receive treatment from the practice.
