How To Handle a Dental Emergency in Plainfield
Dental emergencies are sudden, unexpected events that threaten the health of your teeth and gums. Because your oral health is at stake, you need to know the most effective ways to manage the emergency and protect your well-being.
Handling dental emergencies
is a matter of staying calm and taking the right steps.
Intense Oral Pain
One of the most common dental emergencies we see are patients experiencing oral pain without a discernable cause. Toothaches and similar discomforts become an emergency when the pain experienced is too intense for you to be able to live your daily life
as normal.
First, rinse your mouth out with clean, warm water. This should help reduce any external irritants that might be making your toothache worse. If you have any food stuck between the teeth, use floss to gently remove this debris; take care not to damage
any of the soft tissue in your smile. These steps should be enough to help lessen the pain until you are able to go to the dentist. It is important to check with your dentist before taking aspirin or other over-the-counter pain medications. Additionally,
avoid putting substances directly on the teeth or gums.
Cracked Teeth
Alternatively, your toothache could have an easily noticed cause: a massive crack in the tooth’s enamel.
For cracked teeth, rinse with warm water immediately. Keeping the site clean is vital to the long-term survivability of the tooth. Then, find a cold compress or similar item and gently apply pressure where the tooth is located in the smile. This will
help minimize any swelling caused by the cracked tooth.
Knocked-Out Teeth
The instance where a tooth is completely dislodged because of an intense impact is known as tooth avulsion. This type of dental emergency commonly occurs while participating in athletic activities such as baseball, martial arts, or hockey.
First, find the lost tooth; if preserved in a healthy manner, your dentist might be able to replant it back into the smile. Then rinse off the tooth with warm, clean water and keep it moist at all times. If you are able to, you can try putting the tooth
back into the socket without touching the root. If this doesn’t work, you can find a tooth preservation product at your local pharmacy. You will know if it is the right product for you if it carries a seal of approval from the American Dental Association.
Call Us Now!
Regardless of the exact situation, all dental emergencies share one thing in common: you must visit the dentist as soon as possible in order to save your tooth!
Millennium Family Dental serves dental emergencies in Plainfield, IL, with service to all surrounding communities. For more information about how we protect our patients’ smiles, call our practice and schedule your next appointment today!