Strong and durable as teeth are, they can be damaged in more ways than cavities and decay. There are several common urgent dental emergencies that require immediate attention in order to ensure that you can save your natural tooth. Like any other type of emergency, dental emergencies can happen anytime, anywhere. Most dental emergencies require prompt attention, however, sometimes, people don’t know whether or not something is an emergency, or if it’s something that they can afford to wait and schedule an appointment for to have their concern looked at.
Here are some of the most common urgent dental emergencies that you’ll need to seek out immediate treatment for.
#1. Knocked-Out Tooth
If you get a tooth knocked out, this is one of the most urgent dental emergencies. Teeth can get knocked out by a blow to your face, by an accident where you hit your mouth, such as while playing contact sports. This is an urgent dental emergency because once a tooth gets knocked out, you only have a limited amount of time in order to restore the tooth.
If you get a tooth knocked out, you’ll want to grab the tooth, and ensure that you take care not to touch the root. You can put the tooth in some milk which can help preserve it and keep it from drying out while you’re on the way to the dentist. The faster you act, and the more careful you are about how you handle the knocked out tooth and how you keep it from drying out, the more likely it is that your tooth can be replaced.
When you see a dentist for these common urgent dental emergencies, they’ll stabilize the tooth in its socket, and typically need to conduct a root canal in order to properly treat the issue.
#2. Dislodged Tooth
A step down from a knocked-out tooth but still common urgent dental emergencies, you’ll need immediate urgent dental emergency care if one or multiple of your teeth get dislodged. This can also happen from blows to or impact to your mouth. In this common urgent dental emergency, your tooth can either get knocked sideways or dislodged from its socket.
If you experience this common urgent dental emergency, there’s a good chance that your dentist will be able to save your tooth, as they will work to move the tooth back to its original position. They will stabilize it, and may need to conduct a root canal, to ensure that your natural tooth can be saved.
#3. Broken Tooth/Large Piece Of Tooth is Missing
Another of the common urgent dental emergencies is when you get a fractured tooth. You’ll want to keep any pieces of your tooth that fell out of your mouth and to exercise care not to move your broken tooth and accidentally cause it to break further. You can apply an ice pack and contact your dentist for immediate dental care. If your tooth broke, it’s a good idea to put any pieces in milk, the same way you would for a tooth that gets knocked out, in order to keep them from drying out.
#4. Dental Abscess
Gum abscesses don’t go away on their own, and you want to be extremely careful not to try to pop them, as this could cause further problems. If you have a dental abscess, you’ll want to get urgent dental emergency care, so that your dentist can drain the abscess and treat it. In some cases, dental abscesses need to be treated with scaling, root canals, and even extractions, in severe cases.
How To Tell If You Have An Urgent Or Non-Urgent Dental Emergency
Not all dental emergencies need urgent care. Some, you can afford to wait until normal office hours to schedule an appointment for and have treated. Determining whether or not you have urgent dental emergencies can be difficult for many to discern. Some of the signs that you can watch out for that indicate you likely have urgent dental emergencies on your hands include:
- Severe pain
- Severe bleeding from your mouth
- Swelling gums
- Swelling face
- A lost tooth
- Adult loose teeth
- Painfully cracked/chipped teeth
- Cracked/chipped teeth that have a sharp edge
Get Urgent Dental Emergency Care As Soon As Possible
David G. Johnson, D.D.S. provides urgent dental emergency care services. If you’re experiencing a dental emergency, contact us right away so that we can treat you and save your tooth. Traumatic injuries to your teeth need to be treated immediately in order to ensure that we have the best chance possible of saving your tooth.
