In most circumstances, you need emergency dental treatment. When teeth or gums are harmed, the results may be disastrous. Get in touch with your dentist or get to the nearest emergency hospital if you’re experiencing a dental emergency. Most individuals will have a dental emergency at some time in their life. While regular preventive dental care is beneficial for keeping teeth and gums healthy, being prepared for a dental emergency is as crucial.
What Is a Dental Emergency, Exactly?
Any situation involving one’s teeth is considered a dental emergency. Not all dental disorders need rapid treatment. However, if you have excessive bleeding, pain not relieved by medications, or damaged facial bones, you need dental emergency care.
What to Do If You Have a Dental Emergency
Dentists should be contacted immediately in the event of a dental emergency. If it is beyond regular business hours, many dentists provide an emergency hotline that you may call. If you don’t have a dentist, come to Emergency Dentists San Diego for emergency treatment.
7 Common Dental Emergencies
Toothache
Pain is never a good sign since it may indicate various issues, including dental decay. While some toothaches may be treated without emergency treatment, others, like swelling, need urgent attention. Avoid taking common painkillers such as aspirin since contact with the affected gums may cause tissue burn. Instead, apply a cold compress to the outside of your cheek and visit an emergency dental clinic. After your treatment, your dentist will highlight the need for basic oral hygiene to prevent cavities, tooth decay, and other dental problems.
Teeth that have been broken or chipped
Did you bite down on anything too complicated? A chipped or fractured tooth detracts from your beautiful smile and may cause discomfort. Warm water rinsing and gauze application should stop the bleeding. Applying an ice pack to your face might help alleviate pain and swelling from a broken or chipped tooth. Your dentist may urge you to avoid contact sports and foods that require you to bite down on hard or crunchy materials until you can come in for emergency dental treatment.
A tooth that has been extracted
Similarly, as with a chipped or broken tooth, pick it up by the crown (the exposed region in the mouth) and rinse clean the root only if it is unclean. Avoid scrubbing and removing linked tissue fragments at all costs. It may be possible to replace the tooth, depending on the extent of the damage, but you should be cautious not to force it into the socket. The sooner this is done, the higher the odds of preserving and retrieving a knocked-out tooth, mainly if it is done within the first hour. If you can’t get the tooth back in, soak it in a small cup of milk or water with some salt. This will assist in keeping the tooth in good condition until it can be healed at our Emergency Dentists San Diego dental facility.
A filling or crown needs to be included.
Crowns and fillings repair previously damaged teeth and return them to their former appearance and function. It would help if you treated them immediately to avoid further injury or reinfection when they break. Use this as a stopgap until you can visit a dentist for your toothache. Do not attempt to treat the cavity alone; instead, protect the tooth by inserting a piece of sugar-free gum. You may also bring the restoration to your dentist’s office in a zip-top bag to have it reapplied or replaced with a fresh crown.
Braces that have been damaged
Braces comprise sturdy metal wires and brackets designed to withstand normal biting, chewing, and even speech. Nonetheless, they may fracture or protrude, hurting your cheeks and gums. Not only can this create discomfort, but it may also delay or even reverse tooth alignment and straightening progress. If this happens, consider shifting the damaged wire to a more comfortable location. Cover the rear with orthodontic wax, a cotton swab, or gauze if you must expose it. Please do not cut the wire to avoid eating, no matter how uncomfortable.
Abscess
Infections along the gum line or between the teeth and gums may cause serious health problems. They may spread to neighboring teeth, gums, and other body parts if not treated. Could you have an abscess? Check your gums for any sores or bumps that can be bothersome. If you’re experiencing a dental emergency, don’t wait to call our San Diego dentist’s office for help. You may get temporary comfort by putting an ice pack on the swollen area and rinsing your mouth with a saltwater solution.
Bleeding and pain after tooth extraction
Although some discomfort and bleeding after surgery are expected, patients should call their dentist if these symptoms last longer than an hour. Bite down on a thick gauze pad to provide pressure to the extraction site. It’s best not to smoke, eat, drink, spit, or rinse your mouth.
The Basics of Avoiding a Dental Emergency
Put on a mouthguard.
Do you like sports? Show your excitement for the game without sacrificing your perfect smile. Avoid rough plays that cause face and oral injuries and chipping or knocking out a tooth. Wear a mouthguard before you hit the court or field to protect yourself against dental problems.
Take note of what and how you eat.
Although human teeth are robust, you’d be surprised how easily they may be shattered or chipped. Hard sweets and tough foods are only two examples of what may destroy otherwise strong, straight, and beautiful teeth. The simplest way to avoid this is to pause before biting. If you’re thinking of satisfying your sweet tooth, don’t. It’s not worth the risk of tooth chipping on top of cavities caused by sugar overdose.
Do not chew on anything else.
Many people have oral habits like biting their nails or chewing pen caps or other non-food items. But did you know these bad habits might cause your teeth to crack or chip? You may avoid these bad habits by keeping your hands busy and eating sugarless gum to take your attention away from your mouth, which also increases saliva production and cleanses bacteria. Call Emergency Dentists San Diego in San Diego for emergency dental treatment, or contact us online.
Reasons to See a Dentist
Not all dental crises are potentially fatal. All patients, however, should be seen as soon as possible.
If you crack or break a tooth (for example, when eating something crunchy) or if a tooth is knocked out, you should generally wait to see a dentist unless there is extensive bleeding or the injury is severe (for example, as a result of being hit in the face).
An unpleasant dental emergency may occur. A toothache caused by decay or infection is high on the list. A dental emergency might include tooth loss or fracture due to trauma or a fall.
If you have any of the following symptoms, you should visit an emergency dentist immediately away: swelling, intense pain, or a loose tooth. If you don’t have access to a dentist, go to the nearest emergency room.