Keeping your smile beautiful and your teeth intact might be one of your priorities. Bad oral habits contribute to the unnecessary wear and tear of your enamel. People often don’t realize the severity of a dental problem. More often than not, they shrug off some types of dental emergencies. However, just like any part of your body, your teeth require emergency dental care.
Here are some common dental emergencies that need urgent emergency dental services:
1. Loose or Knocked-Out Teeth
Accidents or sudden impacts to your face can result in your teeth falling out or becoming loose. This situation needs urgent dental care. You must try to keep the tooth in its socket so it will not fall out. To do this, you can try biting down gently to keep the tooth in place.
If the tooth that had fallen out has gone missing, you must look for it. When you find it, rinse it with water to ensure there’s no dirt. Just like a loose tooth, it should be held by the crown. Another solution is placing it in a glass of water or milk and bringing it immediately to your dentist. By doing this, you might preserve your tooth.
2. Toothache
Tooth pain can reveal a range of dental problems. Going to the dentist for a check-up can help discover the reason behind it. The two common causes of toothaches are if there is something stuck between your teeth and pulp infections.
Toothaches can be unpredictable. The pain can range from manageable to severe pain. If you experience this in the middle of the night and your dentist is not available, see to it that you do a cold compress. The cold may help relieve some of the discomforts until you can see your dentist the next day.
3. Soft Tissue Injury
The mouth’s soft tissues include the lips, tongue, gums, and the inside of your cheeks. If any of these soft tissues become injured, calling your dentist quickly is essential. They can provide you with a temporary solution to alleviate pain and discomfort until you can go to the dentist’s office.
Depending on the severity of your injury, it may require an urgent visit to the dentist. Some cases require a quick visit to the emergency room. You can use warm water to rinse soft tissue injuries such as tears, punctures, and lacerations before applying pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding.
4. Chips of Cracks
Using teeth for more than just chewing and biting or being involved in an accident can result in chips and cracks on your teeth. People who have a habit of grinding or clenching their teeth are more at risk of damaging, chipping, or cracking their teeth. This can affect your confidence and smile.
If you ever have a chipped or cracked tooth, a visit to your local dentist is necessary. If a significant portion of your tooth was chipped or cracked, putting it in a glass of milk or water can preserve it until your dentist can restore your teeth.
5. Missing or Loose Tooth Restoration
Both temporary and permanent restorations share the possibility of still becoming loose or falling out. No matter what type of restoration you have, the two require the same level of dental emergency care.
If you have undergone a temporary restoration, you may be able to use chapstick, Vaseline, or denture adhesive to keep the tooth in its place until you go to the dentist again. If the problem occurs on a permanently restored tooth, you should call your dentist to ask for advice.
When this happens, don’t panic. Although the internet is your friend, it might not offer the solution you need. The two best things you can do is call your dentist or go to the dentist’s office as soon as possible.
If you or someone you know doesn’t know where to go for emergency dental care, we at Advanced Dental Group will connect you to licensed dentists near you! Whether it’s a regular dental check-up or an emergency tooth extraction, contact us immediately.