Dental Emergencies You Need To Know

Like most other health emergencies, mouth or tooth emergencies usually happen without warning. If you know what to do in a dental emergency, you can use every minute to make the problem less bad. You can immediately take action when you know who to call and what to do after getting hurt. Some things that could happen will need to be dealt with quickly. In other situations, a dentist may only be called after some time. You should know the difference between a dental emergency and a less serious problem that doesn’t need to be fixed immediately.

Dental Emergencies You Need To Know

Broken Tooth

A broken tooth can happen when you hurt your mouth. If this happens, look for the piece of tooth (s). Find any pieces of teeth and save them so you can take them to the dentist. Clean the area that was hurt with warm water, and then put a cold washcloth on it. Call the dentist right away to make an appointment for an Dental emergency.

Loss Of A Permanent Tooth:

1. Act quickly if you hurt yourself and lose a permanent tooth.
2. If you can, find the tooth.
3. Place the tooth back in the mouth, but only touch the crown.

It might need to be held in place. If you can’t put the tooth back in its place, you can save it by putting it in a cup of fresh milk. 

A painful toothache could mean an abscess or another infection in your mouth. To clean the mouth:

1. Rinse it out with warm salt water.
2. If there is swelling, put a cold pack on the cheek.
3. You should contact the dentist as soon as possible in order to schedule an appointment.

Mouth Injury

Some other mouth injuries might need medical help right away. The jawline may look different if you hurt your jaw in an accident. Keep the face of the injured person as still as you can and call for help. If someone bites their cheek, lip, or tongue and the bleeding doesn’t stop after 15 minutes, call a doctor or dentist as soon as possible to have the person checked out.

Who To Get In Touch With And Where To Go?

Patients can get the care and help from dentists during set office hours. If someone gets hurt or has an accident after hours, they can call an emergency number to get help. The dentist will use the information the answering service gets from calls to figure out how to help the patient. Some people may need to go to an emergency room, while others may need to see a dentist in Naperville immediately.

What Doesn’t Count As An Emergency?

Even if a painful injury happens, it is not always considered a dental emergency. For instance, a soft tissue injury like a lip bite or a blow to the cheek could happen. In this case, you should put firm pressure on the wound to stop bleeding. For 15 minutes, keep the pressure up. If you get bruises or swelling, use a cold compress. 

This is not a dental emergency if the bleeding stops and the teeth are not loose or broken. But if the pressure doesn’t stop the bleeding, you should call a dental emergency line or go to the hospital’s emergency room. If you aren’t sure if an injury is an emergency, call your dentist’s emergency number to talk to a health professional. If you don’t have a regular dentist, you could call the emergency room of a hospital to get help.

What Should I Do If I Need To See A Dentist Right Away?

Call your dentist first. If it’s during normal business hours, they might be able to see you. If you need care for a dental emergency outside of normal business hours, you can go to an urgent care center or, for more serious injuries, an emergency room.

Review your dental insurance plan to see how dental emergencies are covered and how much you and your plan may have to pay for emergency dental services.