A visit to the ER is one of the first responses to a medical emergency. It might not be the smartest option for dental emergencies, however. In some states, it’s illegal for anyone other than dentists to operate on teeth.
Emergency dental care starts at the scene at home. There are a few things you should do in the event of an emergency. Follow these tips and potentially save your smile.
Chips and Breaks
Get hit by a football, a fist, or a shaky shot glass, and a piece of your tooth goes flying. After the initial shock passes, gather yourself and find any pieces of your tooth. Wash the pieces off and stick them in in some milk.
Clot the bleeding up and apply a cold compress to help with the swelling. Take some pain reliever and get the dentist ASAP.
Complete Loss of Tooth
If your tooth pops out completely, quickly gather it and wash it off. Stick it in a glass of milk and be careful not to come in contact with the roots or tissues. If there’s a lot of fleshy root and material exposed, try fitting it right back in place.
You read that right, a tooth that gets knocked out all in one piece can reattach itself. If you can’t fit it back into its place exactly, then you’ll need to see a dentist. You have a very high probability of saving your teeth if you get to a dentist within an hour.
Kids should see a children’s dentist, too, if a baby tooth comes out too early.
Crown Caps
Crowns that fall out or get jostled out of place can be reapplied, too. You should take it with you to the dentist as soon as you can. If you can’t get there right away, then you can attempt to put it back on.
This isn’t recommended, but you can buy dental adhesive for dentures/crowns. This is just a temporary solution so that you can protect the surface area from infection. Don’t go for weeks without seeing a dentist to get your crown fitted back on and secured.
Braces and Wires
Those who have braces can run into a few different types of potential dental emergencies. One of the most common is getting an object stuck in them. Cue the classic movie moments of two lovebirds getting their braces stuck together.
If one of your wires brakes and slides out of place, it can be painful. Get something soft and blunt, like an eraser head, and try to push it back. Otherwise, you’ll need to fix something like tape or wax onto the end.
Do not attempt to trim the wire, this isn’t a good solution and could be accidentally swallowed.
Getting Emergency Dental Care
This is just a small sample of the types of dental problems that can call for emergency dental care. Anything that threatens the health of your tooth, causes a lot of bleeding, or extreme pain qualifies. If you are struggling with an ongoing problem that causes inflammation, you could have a bad infection.
In this case, you need to find the nearest dentist in La Mesa that can quickly diagnose and treat the problem. Whether a root canal or other surgery, you want a dentist you can trust.
For experienced emergency and preventative care, contact us for an appointment. Collaborative Dental is a team of dental professionals who have been serving the La Mesa community for years.
