8 Dental Emergencies and What You Need To Do
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March 16, 2013Dental emergency might not seem so much as an “emergency”. But if it is left untreated, it can result to a more serious condition – some are even life threatening. So don’t take dental emergency for granted. When you encounter any of the following dental emergencies, do the corresponding tips to alleviate the situation.
knocked out tooth
- Knocked-Out Tooth. Don’t be the dentist on this. If your tooth is knocked out, just wash the tooth with water gently. Be sure you don’t remove any tissue attached to the tooth. The best thing to do after that is to place the tooth back into its socket if at all possible. If not, get a glass of milk and place your tooth there. Go straight to your dentist.
- Broken teeth. A few examples of why you might encounter a broken tooth are: an accident, a fight, grossly decayed tooth or a weak tooth. This can be an uncomfortable experience. To alleviate the pain before you can visit your dentist, just get warm water rinse your mouth, if there is any swelling, use a cold compress on your face to reduce the swelling.
- Toothache. There are a lot of factors that cause a toothache. When you feel the pain, start off by washing your mouth with warm water. Then you can use a dental floss to remove any food particles trapped between the teeth of inside the gum. Contact your dentist if the pain won’t go away.
Tooth Abscess
- Dental abscess. You will know you have dental abscess if you can see some swelling on areas of your gums, like a pimple.Dental abscess can be dangerous if left untreated. Use warm salted water to rinse your mouth and go to your dentist immediately.
- Broken jaw. You might have a fight or you accidentally bump your jaw to the wall or any object, as long as there is swelling in this area it means that you have injured your jaw. You need to use cold compress for the swelling. Don’t ignore this incident. Go to your dentist immediately.
- Stuck object between teeth. Any object that gets trapped in between your teeth can easily damage your gum and teeth. Use dental floss to remove it and not just any object. Go to your dentist if you are not able to get it out from between your teeth.
Broken Filling
- Broken filling. If your filling breaks off or falls out, then you can buy a temporary filling material or cement from any pharmacy and put it in the “hole” where the filling use to be and contact your dentist immediately. You can also place a piece of sugarless gum there to cover the hole until you get to your dentist.
- Broken dental crowns. If your dental crown came off, best is to call your dentist right away for an appointment. You don’t want to be without the crown because the teeth can move and your crown may not fit anymore and have to end up paying for a new crown. If you can’t get to your dentist right away and you need to wait a week or so, you can also use the OTC temporary dental cement to place the crown back on until you see you dentist.
Some of these dental emergencies need immediate attention either because of pain or risk of infection. you need to take care of these right away because they can become more serious and dangerous. Dentists are trained to deal with these emergencies preventing further damage.
If you have a dental emergency and need a dentist, call us at 323-771-7254. We will bring you in the same day.
By Ladan Zinati
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Dr. Ladan Zinati, a graduate of University of Southern California, USC in 1993 where she graduated on top of her class with honor and multiple awards. Dr. Zinati is a member of American Dental Association, California Dental Association, and Los Angeles dental Association. At age 12, Dr. Zinati knew she wanted to be a dentist and by age 17 she started working in a dental office as a dental assistant for 5 years while attending last year of high school and 4 years of university, before entering dental school.
21 Comments
This information will be very handy if someone encounter dental emergencies. As the dental pain and cost is very high, everyone should know what to do if there is dental pain or other problems like the emergencies given above.
This is some good information on what to do when you have a dental emergency. I learned a lot of new things to do if I or someone else I know has one of these issues.
Thank you so much for publishing Eight Dental Emergencies. It is always my first instinct to try and fix a tooth pain or mouth problem myself but this article has definatley changed my views! Thanks again!
I couldn’t agree with you more. So many people think ‘oh, it’s fine, I’ll just let it be, it should take care of itself’ and then it gets really bad. It gets to the point they can’t handle it anymore and then when they go to the dentist it’s out of control and requires a lot of work and money to fix. Thanks for these tips!
Micah, you are very welcome! Yes, when dental work gets put off, not only it doesn’t go away, but it just gets worse and definitely a lot more expensive. That’s why, preventive care is so important.
When an dental emergency occurs it could lead to a very serious situation even death. So it’s good to know what steps to take avoid a more tragic ending
Yes, Gary. Unfortunately sometimes severe infections can lead to death. That is why it is so important to use as much preventive measures as possible.
My friend had a toothache today and I went on your site and read this article and was really helpful. Thank you Dr. Zinati. I will be referring her to you.
Selena, you are very welcome and thanks for the referral and your loyalty.
As someone who has suffered from frequent dental issues in the past, this is good information to have. I’ve had broken teeth, abscesses, and broken crowns before and I know they can be VERY painful!
Hi Cody. I am sorry that you have had so much dental issues in the past. But hopefully, you are on the right track now. As I always say, prevention is the key to preventing major problems in the future.
This is a very informative article for those of us who might be having dental issues but can’t always afford to go right to the dentist. I have been having some tooth pain for the past week and have tried flossing to make sure there’s no food between my teeth. I guess it might be time to give my dentist a call.
I think most of the issue to putting off dental issues is cost. At least I can say that is the truth for me. My dental emergencies this year have been after the struggle of ” Pay this bill or go get a filling..” bills usually won, and thanks to that, I wound up needing emergency pulling of a tooth after the cavity was too deep for repair- Even then, there were other options but I had to go with the cheaper of them. Thankfully, I have found a great dentist who gives me great information, but if you are not comfortable or feel your dentist is only giving you the more expensive option, this is a great list.
Hi Vana. I am sorry to hear what you had to go through. I hope that things can work out better for you next time. Thanks for visiting my site and I hope that you were able to get value from it.
My gums were swollen ..how to cure swollen gums before going to the doctor ? thanks
Riva, I’d suggest you taking a look at this https://www.dentistcudahyca.com/5-ways-to-stop-bleeding-gums-cudahy-ca-gingivitis-323-771-7254/
It will help you a lot with your question.
This article is quite informative. Now I’m aware of such things. I’m happy that my time taken reading this article proved helpful for me! My brother have some problems regarding teeth. Now I can tell him these things. Thanks for the worthy article! :)
Sidra, you are very welcome!
I had a broken filling last month, I wish I knew about placing a piece of sugarless gum there until I saw the dentists. That definitely would have saved me a lot of trouble, excellent article.
Jayjee, thanks for your comment. Sorry for the trouble you had with a broken filling, I hope you got that taken care of already.
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