What you should do in a dental emergency

Dental emergencies can happen anytime and sometimes for the most innocuous reasons. You may be eating a meal, doing some exercise or participating in a seemingly harmless activity and then an accident happens. A tooth breaks or cracks, a tooth gets loosened or knocked out completely, a dental crown comes off, or your gum gets split and swelling starts occurring. There are any number of scenarios that can take place and if you have a dental emergency then it’s important that you know what to do next.

Typical dental emergencies include:

• Toothache
• Swelling
• Dental crown falls off
• Knocked out tooth
• Extruding teeth
• Fractured teeth
• Loose teeth
• Trauma to teeth
• Swelling
• Chipped teeth
• Loose fillings
• Wisdom teeth pain
• Infection

If you are suffering with any of the above then it’s important to get to a dentist as soon as possible.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the above scenarios;

• If your tooth gets knocked out then you should get to a dentist within an hour if possible. The tooth may still survive the trauma if it’s dealt with in the first hour. You should keep the tooth clean and moist in a cloth or gauze using a saline solution and get to your dentist asap.
• If your tooth gets dislodged and pushed out of position arrange an emergency appointment with your dentist. Try to reposition the tooth with gentle pressure but do not force it.
• If you chip or fracture a tooth then arrange an emergency appointment. In the meantime, rinse your mouth with warm water and use a cold compress to reduce any swelling.

If you have a dental emergency and your unsure what to do then give us a call and we will get you in as swiftly as possible and advise you beforehand on what to do before you see us. The quicker you act, the quicker we can get you treated and the problem resolved.