Dental Emergencies: Introduction
Pain is one of the reasons people go to the dentist. A painful tooth can be triggered by hot or cold food and drinks. Heavy biting or grinding may fracture a tooth and cause the tooth to hurt when you chew. Sometimes, when a filling falls out, you may have a throbbing ache.
Any injury to teeth or gums can be serious and should not be ignored. Injury can damage nerves or blood vessels. There is also a risk of getting an infection, which can become life threatening. If you ignore dental pain or dental injury, you’re taking a chance. You should not delay getting treatment. Delays in treatment can be dangerous to your health. Getting injured teeth repaired and treated quickly is the best thing to do.
Today, dentists have many options for dealing with dental emergencies. Now you can benefit from advances in pain management and techniques to restore teeth. Teeth can be repaired with synthetic materials that are strong and look as good as your natural teeth. Your dentist has the training and skills to identify how serious the problem is, and he or she almost always can reduce or eliminate pain within a few minutes.
When to Call ALL DAY ALL NIGHT DENTAL
If you’re not sure if a dental problem is an emergency, our dentists offer this advice: If it hurts, it’s an emergency. This is because even injuries that seem small or superficial can affect the living tissues inside the teeth. Quick treatment improves the odds of saving injured or damaged teeth.
Even if you aren’t in much pain, any structural damage to a tooth — from a sports injury, for example — should be considered an emergency. Chips or fractures can affect the living tissue inside the tooth, causing more problems in the future. Your dentist can prevent the damage from getting worse.
The same is true of a lost filling or crown. Even if you don’t have any symptoms, the tooth has lost its support and it could easily become weaker. Pieces could break off or crumble, and you would need more extensive treatment. If you see your dentist right away, there’s a good chance he or she will be able to repair the damage with minimal treatment.
What are dental injuries?
Dental trauma occurs when the tooth receives a blow. Teeth can be broken, loosened or knocked out completely. Immediate treatment gives the best possible chance of saving the tooth.
What should you do about dental injuries?
Following an accident involving the face/mouth:
• check the teeth by looking, or using a finger.
• locate any missing teeth or fragments of teeth.
• only touch the crown of the tooth – the part usually visible in the mouth.
• do not wash or rinse the fragment or tooth with anything, even water.
• store the fragment or tooth in milk, if possible. If the person is conscious, not shocked and old enough to cooperate, the fragment can be stored in their mouth under the tongue.
• seek advice from a dentist immediately. A tooth that has been knocked out, or even a broken tooth, has a better chance of being successfully re-implanted if this is done as soon as possible (ideally within half an hour).
What All Day All Night dentist will do?
• It may be possible to re-implant the tooth if help is sought quickly, the bone is not too badly damaged and the patient is in a fit state for treatment.
• Milk teeth are not re-implanted as there is a risk of harming the permanent tooth underneath.
• Soft tissue damage may require stitches.
• The tooth fragment or a white filling material may be used to rebuild the tooth.
• A splint is often required to hold a loosened or re-implanted tooth in place.
• A tetanus booster and/or antibiotics may be required.
• The tooth will need to be regularly checked and X-rayed.