How to Handle a Dental Emergency

Dental emergencies, like any other medical crises, can be really unexpected and highly unpredictable. The key to ensuring that a dental emergency does not overwhelm you is to be prepared for any of the crises anticipated.

Part of the preparation needed to face a dental emergency is to have an emergency contact number of our dentist on standby at all times.

It is essential to understand that seeing your dentist within 30 minutes or less of your emergency may mean a whole lot of difference between losing your tooth or saving it and minimizing the damage done.

Our dentistry is prepared to handle these emergencies, and are stocked with adequate supplies and an emergency dentistry kit that is mandatory for any dentist practicing emergency dentistry.

What Are Some of the Common Dental Emergencies?

  • Knocked out teeth

    Your teeth may be knocked out during a sporting incident, accident, or any other traumatic incident.

    When this happens, you need to contact your dentist as soon as possible. Because if you respond promptly depending on the severity of the damage, your tooth may be salvaged and reattached, preventing permanent tooth loss.

    You should pick up the tooth if you can, rinse it gently. If possible, you can try and reattach it and bite down gently to keep it in place.

    If you cannot hold it in place, avoid interfering with the root at all costs, place it in a cup of milk to keep it moist as you make your way to our dentist.

    You can also apply a cold press to reduce facial inflammation.

  • A cracked tooth

    If you have a cracked tooth that is causing you any pain, then you should see our dentist promptly.

    Gently rinse out your mouth with some warm water, apply a cold press to cut back on facial inflammation, and make your way to our emergency dentist.

  • Loose teeth

    You may experience loose teeth, tooth displacement, or misalignment after an injury, trauma, or biting down on some hard food.
    What you should do is gently try and push the tooth back into its proper place and bite down gently on it to keep it in place as you make your way to our dentist.

  • Broken or dislocated jaw

    Having a broken jaw can be quite a painful experience if you experience such a form of trauma, try and apply a cold press to reduce on the resulting inflammation as you make your way to our dentist for prompt treatment.

  • Lacerations and cuts

    Some accidents may result in you acquiring lacerations on your tongue or cheeks. This may cause some insistent bleeding and may need to get looked at promptly by our dental surgeon.

    You should rinse out the cut with warm water, try and curb the bleeding by applying some gauze if possible and make your way to our dentist promptly for treatment.

  • Dental infections and abscesses

    Dental infections may be life-threatening, mainly because they are accompanied by very high fever. You should, therefore, seek immediate medical assistance to get proper treatment and clear out the infection.

    Other dental emergencies include food stuck between teeth, cracked tooth implants, broken braces, and adult or pediatric teeth extractions, and so on.

What to Expect When You Get to the Dentist

Depending on the severity of your medical emergency, several processes can be executed by our dentist.

  • If you have a knocked-out tooth, our dentist will attempt to reattach it if the root system has not been damaged in any way. Damaged teeth can be replaced with a dental implant to prevent permanent tooth loss.
  • If your emergency were that of a fractured or cracked tooth, the dentist would get an X-Ray of the damaged tooth to see the exact extent of the fracture.
  • The X-Ray will help our dentist to decide on the next cause of action, whether you are to get only your crown replaced or an entire root canal if your tooth pulp was damaged in any way.

  • For abscesses, our dentist will make incisions and drain them out to get rid of the infection.
  • Tooth displacement or misalignment can be rectified by pushing the affected tooth back into its place and stabilizing it.
  • Lacerations on the tongue and cheeks will be cleaned out and stitched up to stop the bleeding.
  • At times you can get food stuck in between teeth, it happens quite frequently like poppy seeds getting stuck.

Food getting stuck in your teeth can be a result of spaces on your gums that our dentist will address to ensure this does not occur again.

Whatever the dental emergency, at Bella Smiles, we are prepared to address it. Our dentists are equipped with an emergency dentistry kit and are available even after hours to promptly carter to your specific emergency.