You don’t have to suffer with dental pain! When your dental health is at risk, we will do everything we can to make sure that you are treated as soon as possible. While dental emergencies are rare, they can happen, and it is important to know how to take care of your teeth no matter what. Common dental emergencies include:
- Broken or cracked tooth/teeth
- Broken jaw
- Permanent tooth knocked out
- Object caught between teeth
- Severe toothache
Did you know…
That many dental injuries happen while participating in a sport? The American Dental Association recommends wearing a custom mouthguard when participating in any physical fitness activity with the potential for dental injury including basketball, boxing, football, martial arts, soccer, squash, surfing, volleyball, and weightlifting, and wrestling. Your dentist can help you select the proper mouthguard to prevent injury.
First Aid for Common Dental Injuries:
Tooth knocked out:
- Time is the most important factor when trying to save a tooth, so get to your dentist as soon as possible. In general, there is a 30-minute window of opportunity to re-implant the tooth in the socket.
- Do not try to re-implant the tooth yourself.
- The best liquid to transport a tooth in is cold milk. If milk is not available, use saliva (if possible), saline, or if nothing else is available, water.
- Don’t let the tooth dry out and don’t wrap it in anything.
- Don’t touch the tooth root if you can avoid it.
Tooth chipped/cracked:
- Your dentist will likely use an X-ray of the tooth to determine the treatment necessary.
- For a serious chip that exposes the pulp of the tooth, get to your dentist as soon as possible.
- If a tooth is chipped or cracked, sometimes the tooth can be fixed with a filling or bonding alone.
- Sometimes a tooth is cracked or chipped in a way affecting the nerve of the tooth, and a more complicated treatment may be needed.
Tooth displaced:
- If a tooth is moved due to trauma, see your dentist as soon as possible.
- Do not try to move the tooth back on your own.
- For any mouth discomfort before you get to the dentist, apply ice.
