Dealing with a dental emergency is never fun. When your smile is damaged unexpectedly you will be faced with all kinds of questions: Who can I call? How soon can I get treatment? What kind of treatment is right for me?
Our Glendale dentists are here to help you prepare, as much as possible, for a dental emergency. Keep reading to get some helpful tips and tricks…
The first thing that you can do is to decide, right now, who you will call when faced with an emergency. Figure out how your dentist can be contacted in an emergency, and then make this info easily accessible in your home and/or on your phone. You don’t want to have to be searching for a phone number when faced with an emergency.
Next, here are some things to keep in mind when dealing with various unexpected dental problems:
Tooth loss
- If possible, keep your tooth in its place in your gum tissue
- Try not to disturb/clear away any oral tissue/tooth roots/nerves
- If the tooth cannot be reinserted into the gum tissue, place it in a glass of milk until you can get treatment
- Seek treatment ASAP—ideally within an hour of tooth loss
Oral tissue laceration
- Gently rinse your mouth with water
- Use a clean cloth to apply pressure to the cut and minimize bleeding
- Do not apply numbing/pain management agents to the cut until you have cleared this with your dentist
- Seek treatment ASAP
Toothache
- Rinse your mouth with warm/lukewarm water
- Make sure that you do not have food lodged in your smile; use floss to remove any dental debris
- Use an icy compress to numb the affected area from the outside of your cheek
- Do not apply aspirin or painkillers directly to the enamel/gum tissue
- Seek treatment if pain does not abate
As always our Glendale emergency dentist is here to help you get the treatment you need, precisely when you need it. Give us a call for more information!