Dental emergencies can often be stressful and painful, making it crucial to take action quickly. Seeking out professional care as soon as possible is important for all dental emergencies, but you may have to wait for a short period of time before seeing your dentist, especially if the emergency occurs outside of office hours. Understanding what to do immediately after a dental emergency occurs can help ensure the best possible outcome for your oral health. 

Common dental emergencies include:

Broken Permanent Tooth

Eating something very hard blows to the mouth, and even untreated cavities can result in broken teeth. If one of your teeth breaks, the first step that you should take is to find the tooth fragment, if possible. If you do find one or multiple fragments, keep them to bring them to your dentist. If the broken tooth resulted from a mouth injury, clean the injured area with warm water, cover it with a cold cloth, and schedule an emergency appointment with your dentist. 

Severe Toothache

A severe toothache can result from an abscessed tooth (which is a bacterial infection in the center of the tooth), tooth decay, and gum infection, among other conditions. You may experience sharp or throbbing pain, a headache, swelling around the aching tooth, bad-tasting drainage from the tooth, and even a fever. If this occurs, rinse your mouth with warm saltwater, apply an ice pack wrapped in a cloth on the cheek to help with swelling, and then schedule an emergency appointment with your dentist. 

Lost Permanent Tooth

If you lose a permanent tooth, it’s important to keep the spot where the tooth was located moist until you can receive professional care. Additionally, if you can find the tooth that was lost, you can clean it and try to return it to the socket (just make sure that it’s not touching the root). If you can’t fit the tooth back in the socket, soak it in milk or store it in between the gums and cheek; your dentist will try to put it back in place. Otherwise, you may need a dental implant to restore the lost tooth. 

 

For customized treatment after a dental emergency, call Dental Implant Solutionz at 727-202-4926.