If you have a dental emergency, please call our Mandarin office right away! We work diligently to help our patients in times of emergency. Knowing how to handle a dental emergency can mean the difference between saving and losing a tooth. Here are some helpful tips:
Cracked or Broken Tooth
Rinse the mouth with warm water to clean the area. Put cold compresses on the face to keep any swelling down. See your dentist right away. If possible, take the broken tooth fragment with you. The dentist may be able to bond the fragment to the tooth. If not he will restore the tooth with a crown or tooth-colored filling.
Jaw Possibly Broken
Apply cold compresses to control swelling. Go to a hospital emergency room immediately.
Objects Caught Between Teeth
Gently try to remove the object with dental floss. If you’re not successful, visit your dentist. Do not try to remove the object with a sharp or pointed instrument.
Toothache
Rinse the mouth with warm water to clean it out. Gently use dental floss to remove any food caught between the teeth. Don’t put aspirin on the aching tooth or gum tissues. Visit the dentist as soon as possible.
Bitten Tongue or Lip
Clean the area gently with a cloth, and put cold compresses on the area to keep the swelling down. If bleeding is excessive or does not stop in a short period of time, visit your dentist or a hospital emergency room.
Knocked-out Tooth
Keep the tooth moist at all times. Hold the tooth by the crown, and If the tooth is dirty, rinse the root in water. Do not scrub the tooth or remove any attached tissue fragments. The tooth must not be left outside the mouth to dry. If possible, gently insert and hold the tooth in its socket. If it cannot be replaced in the socket, put it in one of the following:
• Emergency tooth preservation kit
• Milk
• Mouth (next to cheek)
• If none of these is practical, use water (with a pinch of salt, if possible)
Bring the patient (and don’t forget the tooth!) to a dentist as soon as possible – ideally, within 15 minutes. However, it may be possible to save the tooth even if it has been outside the mouth for an hour or more. Baby teeth that have been knocked out typically are not replaced because of the potential damage to developing permanent teeth.