Handling Dental Emergencies

Last week we began a discussion of different dental emergencies and how to handle them, and now, to continue the subject. 

If a crown falls off, make an appointment as soon as possible and bring your crown with you so it can be recemented (or the cause of it coming off be evaluated to determine if something more than recementation is needed).  Your teeth can move if you don’t recement your crown promptly and if the teeth move, you may incur the time and expense of having to make a new crown.  Until you get to your dentist you can place the crown back using denture adhesive, Vaseline, or toothpaste.  Don’t eat with the crown placed in this way and never use glue of any kind yourself.

If you bite your tongue, cheek or lips or otherwise injure them or your gums, most likely you will bleed.  First rinse your mouth with warm salt water.  Then use a gauze or a moistened tea bag and apply pressure to the bleeding area.  You can help control pain with a cold compress placed 10 minutes on and 10 minutes off.  Call your dentist if bleeding doesn’t stop.

If a tooth gets knocked out you want to see your dentist as soon as possible.  Teeth that have been knocked out have the highest chances of being saved if the patient is seen within an hour and the tooth returned to its socket.  Please refer to two previous posts, 9/11/12 and 9/18/12, which discuss this topic in detail.

If a back tooth breaks, make sure no food becomes lodged in the tooth and avoid eating anything hard, crunchy, or sticky until you see your dentist.  If you chip or break a front tooth, you will have to see your dentist ASAP to handle this cosmetic emergency (which always seems to happen before an important event, presentation, or meeting).

We hope having discussed some of these common dental emergencies has been helpful guidance for you to handle these dental emergencies you may face.

For other dental information visit www.TavorminaDentistry.com