Emergency Dental Procedures

What should you do if you have a dental emergency? Should you call a Dr. or Dentist? How do you know if you have a dental emergency? Many might have been in a dental emergency at some point and wondered what's best to do. The following article discusses some dental emergencies and gives tips on what you can do before you get there too.

If you've got a dental emergency, you may wonder if you should see a doctor or a dentist. If you have any of the following issues, you should see a dentist. There are many dentists around that have emergency dental hours, and there are some that work as emergency dentists primarily.

Toothache A toothache is actually the most common dental emergency. A toothache is extremely painful and it should be treated ASAP. There are 2 #num types of toothaches. An alive nerve in the tooth root can become sore and inflamed. You may notice that your tooth is sensitive to hot and cold and it is painful to eat. A dead nerve in the root can cause an abscess. If left untreated it causes severe pain and you should get help as soon as possible.

Abscessed Tooth An abscessed tooth is an infection between the gum and tooth or of the root of the tooth. Usually it happens with tooth decay, but can be caused by trauma as well. They primary sign of an abscess tooth, is a toothache. But there may be other symptoms as well. Symptoms can include bitter taste in the mouth, pain while chewing, fever, teeth sensitivity, swollen neck glands, foul smelling breath, a swollen jaw, or redness and swelling of gums. If any of these seem familiar along with the toothache, you should see an emergency dentist.

A lost permanent tooth The loss of a permanent tooth should be treated as an emergency and help should be sought right away. If you get help quickly enough, the chances that the tooth can be put back in and preserved are very good. There are some things you need to do before you contact the emergency doctor or dentist: 1. Grab the tooth by the crown and do not touch the roots of the tooth. 2. Rinse the tooth but take care not to scrub or remove any tissue that may be attached. 3. If you can, carefully put the tooth back into the mouth and hold it in place while trying to bite down. 4. If its not a possibility to place the tooth in the socket, place it in a cup of milk.

Broken or chipped tooth If a tooth is chipped but isn't causing pain, it probably isn't be an emergency. You can wait a couple of days to see a dentist. However, during that wait, be careful not to chip it further when you're eating. A fractured or cracked tooth is more serious though. There may be internal damage to the tooth in addition to the outside. Use the following steps until you can get to an emergency dentist. 1. Clean your mouth out with warm water. 2. If the fractured tooth was caused by facial trauma, you might want to apply a cold pack to the area to minimize swelling. 3. Take acetaminophen or ibuprophen to alleviate pain, but don't apply a topical pain reducer to the gum because it could burn the gum tissue.

Broken dentures, or loss of veneer or crown If you lose a crown or veneer you will want to definitely keep it. They can be expensive. Get to the emergency dentist as soon as possible so that it can be re-cemented or repaired. Over the counter pain killer can be used for pain until you can get to the doctor or dentist. If your dentures break, visit the dentist as quickly as possible to get them fixed.