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Common Dental Emergencies and How Your Dental Clinic Can Help
A dental emergency can happen anytime without notice; it mostly brings pain and causes stress and confusion about what to do next. An urgent pain in the mouth can be toothache or even severe injuries such as knocked-out teeth. Knowing how to handle a dental emergency can help minimize the extent of damage and prevent it from getting complicated. You will also see how the dental clinic can help you in emergencies, ensuring you can quickly get what you need. Below is the blog that focuses on some of the most common types of dental emergencies and how a dental clinic can provide sufficient solutions.
Toothaches: Pain that’s Never-ending
Toothaches are one kind of dental emergency. The pain associated with a toothache can be mild or very severe. It may result from various problems, including cavities, abscesses, gum disease, or a cracked tooth. But whatever its nature, mild to unbearable discomfort or pain that continues for more than a day should lead you to visit a dentist without delay-in this case, the sooner, the better because it is pretty intense.
- What You Can Do: While waiting for your appointment, rinse your mouth with warm water and floss gently to remove any debris lingering and irritating the area. Over-the-counter pain relievers can temporarily take the edge off the pain.
- How Your Dental Clinic Can Help: Your dentist will examine your teeth and pinpoint the cause of your pain. Depending on the specific diagnosis, treatment options include fillings, root canal treatments, or tooth extraction.
Chipped or Broken Teeth: Accidents Happen
Whether caused by a fall, an accident, or even by biting down on something hard, a chipped or broken tooth can simultaneously cause pain and stress. Besides causing discomfort, a fractured tooth can leave you self-conscious about your smile and further expose you to damage.
What You Can Do: If you can, save any broken pieces of the tooth and rinse your mouth with warm water. Putting a cold compress over the area will reduce any swelling or pain. Do not chew anything on the affected side of the mouth until you have been treated by your dentist.
How your Dental Clinic Would Help to Restore the Tooth:
Your dentist would assess the injury and recommend bonding, crowns, or veneers to restore the tooth aesthetically and functionally if required. After evaluating such an injury, root canal treatment may be necessary, requiring the pulp damage to be seen.
Knocked-Out Teeth: Time is Everything
A knocked-out tooth is one of the worst dental emergencies. Fortunately, the tooth will likely be saved with the proper measures taken immediately. Time is crucial in this situation, regardless of the accident or injury.
What You Can Do:
- Could you pick it up by the crown (not the root)?
- Wash it briefly with water (do not scrub it).
- Try to put it back in the socket.
If that doesn’t work, put it in either milk or saliva and go to the dentist immediately.
How your Dental Clinic Would Help: Within an hour of the incident, your dentist can reimplant the tooth and return it to its rightful position. Hence, the sooner you get help, the better your chances of saving the tooth are.
Abscesses: A Terrible Infection.
Having a dental abscess means having some agonizing pus-filled infection in the root of the tooth arising from untreated cavities, gum disease, or suction trauma concerning the tooth. If untreated, abscesses may entail severe complications, which may spread the infection to other parts of the body.
- What You Can Do: Rinse your mouth with warm salt water to relieve pain, and avoid applying heat to the area, as this will worsen the possible infection.
- How Your Dental Clinic Can Help: Your dentist will drain the abscess and manage the associated infection with antibiotics, after which they will determine whether a root canal or an extraction is warranted to remove the source of infection. Timely treatment is imperative to ensure that the infection does not spread.
A Lost Filling or Crown
Vulnerable Tooth All decay, infection, or further damage is readily exposed to the tooth when there is a loss of filling or crown. Although there is sometimes no pain associated with it at the moment, an appointment is necessary to ensure the protection of the decayed tooth.
- What You Can Do: Put the lost filling or crown in a safe place and contact your dental clinic sooner rather than later. In the meantime, if you want to use it temporarily, you can cover the area with some dental cement in a pharmacy.
- How Your Dental Clinic Can Help: Your dentist replaces the lost filling or crown, restores the tooth’s function, and prevents further damage. If needed, he will take an X-ray examination to check whether something else is bothering the tooth.
Lost Fillings or Crowns: An Unprotected Tooth
With missing fillings or crowns, teeth may fall prey to decay or infection or even suffer additional damage. Although, in immediate terms, there may not be any pain, a lost filling or crown needs some attention to save it from future damage.
- What you Can Do: Keep the lost filling or crown safe and call your dental clinic as soon as possible. In the meantime, you can cover the area with dental cement (available at pharmacies) as a temporary solution.
- How Your Dental Clinic Can Help: Your dentist will replace the lost filling or crown, keeping the tooth functional and protecting it from further damage. Your dentist may also take X-rays to assess whether the problem needs fixing.
Bleeding Gums: A-Do Not Ignore
Bleeding gums can indicate gum disease, which could be very serious and need speedy treatment. One may experience bleeding from brushing too hard or using a hard-bristled toothbrush, but without a doubt, consistent bleeding is usually a signal warning against gingivitis or periodontitis.
- What You Could Do: Change to a soft-bristled toothbrush and gently brush and floss. If the bleeding continues or worsens, see your dentist.
- How Can Your Dental Clinic Help? Your dentist will look at your gums to determine the cause of bleeding and may advise treatment professional cleaning, scaling, or root planing for gum disease.
Conclusion
We at Square One Health Group appreciate how stressful and painful dental emergencies can be. Therefore, we strive to provide fast, effective services to address all types of emergencies, be they toothaches, broken teeth, or anything in between. Our experienced team is here to help you get the relief you need.
We provide various emergency services designed to restore oral health and ensure you can smile confidently again. With that kind of care and comfort toward patients, Square One Health Group should be at the top of your partner’s list in an emergency dental care situation. Book your appointment now or call us at – 905-232-4007.
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