Accidents happen and often at the most inconvenient times. Sometimes it’s on the weekend or on a holiday when offices are typically closed. If you’ve ever had a dental emergency, you know that they can be painful and scary. They can also often leave you questioning whether you should be calling your dentist’s emergency number or heading to the nearest emergency room. Today we’re going to share a few of the most common dental emergencies and what you should do if one happens to you or a loved one.
A knocked-out tooth can be one of the scariest dental emergencies. It can happen from playing sports, falling, getting hit in the face—we have seen it all! When a tooth gets knocked out, you have at most thirty minutes to see a dentist or get to an emergency room. This is because the research shows that the window for saving a tooth is about an hour. (After an hour the chances of the tooth surviving is next to zero.) So the rule of thumb is that you want to get to your dentist or the emergency room ASAP to give them enough time to attempt to save the tooth.
If your tooth gets knocked out, here are some helpful steps to follow:
If you cannot place a tooth back in the socket (maybe it’s too dirty, a baby tooth, or you don’t trust yourself not to touch the root), you may submerge the tooth immediately in milk. You may also use a Save-A-Tooth dental emergency kit. We recommend having at least one of these on hand in both your home and car first aid kits.
Depending on where you are located, and the day/time of the accident, you’ll want to call your dentist’s emergency line or visit the nearest emergency room. Most dental offices have an answering machine that will tell you the number to the emergency line when you call.
Here at Midlothian Dental Center, we are on call 24/7 because we understand that accidents don’t always happen within normal business hours. If you call our offices after hours, wait for our voicemail message to play. You will hear instructions for contacting the emergency line. Write down the number and then call.
We recommend that all our patients store our regular number in their phone contacts just in case (804) 794-4588.
If you can’t find the missing tooth or it can’t be saved, don’t worry. Your dentist may recommend an implant as a replacement. Dental implants are made to match your natural teeth. They are also fused to your jawbone so they do not require removal like dentures. When properly taken care of, dental implants can last a lifetime. (Check out this helpful blog post with more information about dental implants.)
Not all broken and fractured teeth are a dental emergency. Minor fractures and chipping generally do not require an emergency dental visit. However, if you experience a major fracture or break in the tooth, this is a dental emergency. If you experience minor tooth chipping (or perhaps no chipping at all) but the tooth is “jammed” up into the gum-line or misaligned with the surrounding teeth, that is a clear sign of a dental emergency.
Signs that you’re experiencing a dental emergency:
This is by no means a comprehensive list. So when in doubt, consider it an emergency and call your dentist or get to an emergency room.
Anything that causes you pain or discomfort should be examined by a dental professional as soon as possible. Toothaches are no exception.
It’s important to remember that there is likely an underlying reason that you’re experiencing pain in your mouth. So a trip to the dentist is the first step to restoring your oral health and ensuring that you go on about your days pain-free.
If tooth pain is unbearable and/or there’s bleeding or pus associated with your toothache, call your dentist or get to an emergency room.
A tooth abscess can also cause extreme amounts of pain, swelling in the gums and face, bad breath, and fever. This is a dental emergency and needs to be treated as soon as possible. An abscessed tooth can happen without any trauma and can instead result from tooth decay that has reached the root of your tooth. If you experience any of these symptoms, seek help right away.
Below is a list of dental emergencies that require urgent care:
To make an appointment at Midlothian Dental Center, give us a call today at (804) 794-4588. We recommend saving this number in your contacts for dental emergencies as well.
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