A dental emergency is any dental situation that calls for immediate treatment to alleviate pain, stop bleeding, or save a tooth. It occurs in different situations, including a severe toothache, a knocked-out tooth, or a dental abscess. In dental emergencies, you are advised not to wait to see a dentist, but to seek dental care as soon as possible.
What you do before seeing a dentist depends on the emergency you are facing. You can call a dentist whenever you experience a dental emergency to learn how to handle it before visiting their office. A skilled dentist will guide you in stopping bleeding, managing pain, or saving your tooth before receiving the necessary treatment.
Here are different ways to handle a dental emergency:
Remain Calm
A dental emergency can cause you to panic, especially if you are in severe pain or there is bleeding. However, you are advised to remain calm to assess the situation better and take the right action. Remaining calm when facing a dental emergency helps you manage pain and bleeding, and helps you save a tooth. When stress kicks in, your body goes into a fight-or-flight mode, which can intensify your pain. When you panic, you are unable to make quick, rational decisions that can save the situation.
Thus, it is advisable to calmly assess the damage to your teeth to make faster, more informed decisions. With a clear head, you can accurately determine the nature and seriousness of your injury and take the appropriate first-aid steps. You can significantly reduce the intensity of your pain by remaining calm during a medical emergency. When in a panic, your body releases adrenaline and cortisol, which can intensify the pain. When you calm down, your heart rate drops, which helps the body naturally manage physical pain and discomfort.
Remaining calm in a dental emergency also makes it easy to contact an emergency dentist for timely treatment and care. You can also calmly visit the dentist’s office for treatment.
Contact Your Dentist
Remember that a dental emergency cannot wait; it requires immediate treatment. That is why you should always have an emergency dentist’s contact information to ensure you receive quick, timely treatment in case of an emergency.
Contacting a dentist immediately after losing a tooth can save the tooth. Dentists can save a tooth within 30 to 60 minutes of it being knocked out. Thus, you need to book an appointment right away, as you prepare to go in for treatment.
If you are in severe pain or are experiencing uncontrolled bleeding, you need an emergency dentist’s advice on how to manage the pain or bleeding. They could ask you to apply pressure on the bleeding as you prepare to come in for treatment. A dentist can also advise you to take pain medication as you prepare for treatment.
Contacting your dentist immediately is also critical if you have signs of oral infection or a dental abscess. An infection can escalate rapidly and affect your overall health. Some of the signs you should watch out for include swelling in the face, a throbbing toothache, fever, pain and a foul taste in the mouth. Ignoring such signs can worsen your oral and general health.
Control the Bleeding
Bleeding is a common sign of a dental emergency. Whether the bleeding is minor or severe, you should know what to do to stop excessive bleeding before visiting a dentist’s office.
Most dental emergencies include bleeding. For example, if you experience physical trauma to the face or directly to the teeth that knocks out your tooth, you will experience severe bleeding. Advanced periodontitis also causes bleeding, especially when your gums are seriously inflamed. Any minor touch on the inflamed gums can cause serious bleeding. A ruptured dental abscess can also result in severe bleeding that only a skilled emergency dentist can manage.
However, contact an emergency dentist once you notice bleeding to learn how to manage it before going in for treatment. Generally, dentists recommend using clean cotton gauze to stop the bleeding. You can apply gentle pressure on the affected area to stop the bleeding without worsening the injury.
Managing bleeding in a dental emergency helps prevent infections. If you have an open wound in your mouth, harmful bacteria can easily enter the deeper tissues and bloodstream through it, resulting in a systemic infection. Managing bleeding effectively also encourages the formation of a blood clot in an open wound. This stops the bleeding and helps the wound heal naturally.
Learning to manage bleeding in a dental emergency also protects you from excessive bleeding, which can affect your general health.
Rinse Your Mouth
In some dental emergencies, rinsing your mouth with warm, salty water is recommended. These situations include when your tooth is knocked out, cracked, or chipped or when you experience a serious toothache. Rinsing your mouth cleans the affected area, helping prevent harmful bacteria from causing an oral infection. Rinse your mouth to help you assess the damage, as you can clearly see the injury. Warm, salty water is also an excellent home solution for preventing oral infection.
This remedy can help if you experience gum irritation, a common sign of periodontal disease. You can also rinse your mouth if you have a dental abscess to prevent the infection from spreading before it is properly treated.
However, this will not work in all dental emergencies. If your mouth is actively bleeding, you must control the bleeding before rinsing. Even after managing the bleeding, rinsing the mouth can disturb the clotting process, which is important to the body’s natural healing.
The best thing to do is to contact your dentist and explain the emergency you are experiencing. They will advise you on whether to rinse your mouth with warm salty water before visiting their office for treatment. Once you explain what has happened, your dentist will guide you on managing the injury before seeking treatment.
Preserve the Knocked-Out Tooth
Remember that a knocked-out tooth can be replaced if it is well preserved and you visit an emergency dentist’s office within 30 minutes to one hour. However, preserving the tooth should be done carefully to avoid damaging its sensitive tissues, which are necessary for a successful reattachment. Dentists recommend collecting and holding the tooth by its crown, not its root, if it falls off. You can rinse it with water to keep it clean and prevent harmful bacteria. You can put it in a container with milk to preserve it properly as you prepare to visit your dentist’s office.
Preserving a knocked-out tooth is an excellent way to avoid losing a natural tooth, even after a serious accident. Nothing can replace the strength, beauty, and functionality of a natural tooth. Although there are many tooth replacement options available today, dentists will always try to save the natural tooth whenever possible.
Natural teeth can effectively maintain the surrounding jawbone and facial structure to prevent bone loss and changes in your facial appearance. If you neglect a knocked-out tooth and do not get a replacement soon enough, your oral health can be severely affected in the long run.
Additionally, saving your natural tooth is more cost-effective than replacing a lost tooth. All tooth restorations and associated treatments are costly.
Manage the Swelling
Some dental emergencies cause swelling in the gums or face. They include periodontal abscess, an infected impacted tooth, and advanced gum disease. Swelling is uncomfortable and sometimes painful. Before visiting an emergency dentist’s office, you can manage the swelling at home using a cold compress. Dentists recommend holding an ice pack outside the cheek for 20 minutes and allowing yourself a 20-minute break before repeating the treatment. This will reduce swelling, manage pain, and improve your comfort.
In most cases, swelling indicates a serious underlying problem, like an abscess or bacterial infection. This can quickly spread to other parts of the mouth and body if not properly managed. That is why you should visit your dentist’s office as soon as you notice it. However, before that, managing the swelling at home is recommended to reduce inflammation and prevent further damage. If you experience severe throbbing pain, an ice pack can help. The cold pack constricts blood vessels to slow swelling as you seek immediate treatment for the underlying issue.
Manage the Pain
Remember that some dental emergencies are very painful. These include gum and tooth abscesses, broken orthodontic appliances, stuck objects, fallen or broken teeth, and damaged tissues. The pain can be unbearable enough to affect your ability to make an informed decision. That is why dentists recommend taking pain medication to manage the pain as you rush to an emergency dentist’s office for treatment.
Most dental emergencies are experienced through accidents and sports events when you experience extreme trauma to the face, jaw, or directly to the teeth. This can fracture or dislodge the tooth from a severe impact, causing extreme pain. You can take suitable pain medication to manage your pain at home, as you prepare for immediate treatment. However, it is advisable to talk to your dentist before self-medicating. They will recommend the right medication and dosage to avoid additional medical issues.
Also, do not wait too long before seeking treatment once the medication provides the much-needed relief. Remember that the medication only manages the pain and does not provide the needed treatment. You cannot rely on pain medication to manage a dental emergency. A skilled dentist will recommend using pain medication sparingly as you receive the right treatment for the underlying dental issue.
Gather Your Medical Reports
When visiting a dentist’s office, whether for regular treatment, emergency dental care, or routine checkups, it is important to bring your medical records. This helps your dentist better understand the issue so they can recommend the right treatment for your needs. For example, if you have been previously treated for periodontitis or have a long history of the disease, it may cause or affect the dental emergency you are experiencing. After perusing your medical reports, your dentist gets a clearer picture of your previous treatments and how they affect your current oral health.
Thus, gather as many of your medical reports as possible, especially those for recent treatments. Also, note the medications you are currently taking and let your dentist know immediately upon arrival at their office. This will prevent drug interactions when the dentist avoids prescribing medications that can negatively interact with your ongoing treatments.
If you need anesthesia, your dentist can clearly see from your records whether you are allergic to any medications. They will also take the necessary precautions if you have medical conditions like liver disease, heart disease and kidney disease.
Protect the Broken Pieces
Do not disregard any broken piece of your tooth or appliance in a dental emergency. The dentist may need it to restore your damaged tooth or appliance. As you prepare to visit the dentist’s office, gather and preserve all broken pieces and hand them over to your emergency dentist. After assessing the damage, your dentist will know the right strategy to use to address the emergency. This could involve using the broken pieces to save your tooth or appliance.
Protecting a broken tooth can help save your natural tooth. If a significant part of your tooth is missing, your dentist may need to perform a costly dental restoration procedure. If a significant portion of your dental appliance is missing, the dentist may need to replace it altogether.
Find a Competent Emergency Dentist Near Me
Are you or someone you love experiencing a dental emergency in Lakewood?
A skilled emergency dentist can advise you on what to do before arriving at an emergency dentist’s office for treatment. The exact advice will depend on the kind of dental emergency you face.
At The Lakewood Dentist, our emergency dentists are always on standby, ready to help in urgent situations. We recommend quick action to save a tooth, manage pain and bleeding, and prevent a dental situation from getting out of hand. Call us at 562-423-1441 and let us, together, determine the best way to manage your dental emergency.