Dental Emergency `

In the unfortunate event that you experience a dental emergency, you should immediately contact your dental emergency provider. Your dentist has accommodating schedules for emergency dental procedures. Make sure that you have your dentist’s emergency contact information readily accessible at any time. In the case of dental emergency, it is important that you see your dentist within 30 minutes or less as this timeframe can determine whether your tooth is able to be saved or lost. Below is a list of several scenarios that may happen in a dental emergency.

Knocked-Out Tooth Dental Emergency `

If your tooth gets knocked out, you must immediately follow these few procedures and notify your dentist. In doing so, you increase your chances that the tooth can be saved and reinserted by your dentist.

 

• Start by retrieving the tooth and be sure to handle it by the crown, being careful not to touch or damage the roots.
• You may clean the tooth by rinsing it very gently in water as scrubbing may remove tissue or cause additional damage. It’s a good idea to make sure the drain is closed while rinsing to protect it from falling down.
• If possible you may try to reposition the tooth carefully in its original socket and then slowly bite down to hold in its place.
• In the event that the previous step was not possible, simply place the tooth in a small container with some milk.
• Contact your dentist as soon as possible as the steps provided are crucial in saving the tooth. Time is against you when you knock out a tooth; the longer you wait to have the tooth refitted in its socket the slimmer your chances are of saving the tooth.

Loose Teeth Dental Emergency `

You should immediately call your dentist in the case of a loose tooth or one that is out of alignment to schedule an emergency appointment. Until then, keep the tooth in its natural position by applying gentle pressure with your finger. Do not be forceful. Sometimes it helps to bite down on the tooth to keep it from moving. If this is the case, your dentist may want to further anchor the tooth by splinting it to its adjacent teeth.

Chipped, Cracked or Fractured Teeth Dental Emergency

If you have a tooth that is chipped but do not experience any pain, it is usually not a dental emergency, and it won’t hurt to wait a few days to until an appointment can be set with your dentist, but you should be careful not to cause additional damage to it while eating. In treating a chipped tooth, your dentist may simply smooth the area that was chipped or repair the area with composite filling material for a natural appearance.