A dental emergency can arise at the most inconvenient time, often causing discomfort and stress. As your trusted dentist in Strongsville, OH, Dr. Leah Butler wanted to provide you some tips on how to handle our top three dental emergencies. All of these dental emergencies require treatment by a professional dentist, but there are some things you can do at home to relieve your symptoms and prevent further discomfort. Here are our tips for common dental emergencies:
Knocked-Out Tooth
Knocked-out teeth often occur due to facial trauma or because of excessively crunchy food. It’s important to stay calm during your dental emergency, and stop whatever you were doing that caused the tooth to dislodge immediately. Try to locate the knocked-out tooth and pick it up by the crown, avoiding touching the roots. The tooth is still viable shortly after it is dislodged, so it’s important to get yourself and your tooth to the closest dentist as soon as possible. Try to place the tooth back into its original socket. If you are unable to do so, keep it in a glass of milk to maintain its moisture until you can be seen. Then, make your way to the dentist’s office. We will do our best to reattach your tooth.
Toothache
Toothaches are a common dental concern. Sudden, unexplained tooth pain should be evaluated by a professional dentist as soon as possible. There are many reasons why you may experience tooth pain including an infected tooth, oral abscess, or tooth impaction. Regardless, it’s best to stay calm and call our office immediately so we can schedule you for our earliest available appointment. Placing a cold compress on the cheek or jawbone can reduce discomfort. You can also take over-the-counter pain medication like ibuprofen, though be careful not to leave the pain medication directly on your affected tooth. This can actually further irritate the tooth and cause more pain.
Chipped Tooth
Chipped or cracked teeth can occur at any time of the day. It’s important that if a large chunk of your tooth is suddenly broken off that you try to locate the piece of tooth to bring to your appointment. Rinse the piece off with water to remove any debris. The number one priority when handling a chipped or broken tooth is to not make the damage worse. If you are experiencing pain due to the chipped tooth, take over-the-counter pain medication, and avoid chewing your foods on the side of your mouth with the affected tooth. Avoiding chewing gum or crunchy foods. Rinse your mouth with salt water to help keep the area clean.
Schedule An Appointment
Dr. Butler offers emergency dental care in our Strongsville office for current and new patients. We make every effort to see you the same day if necessary to address your specific emergency. If you are experiencing a dental emergency contact our office immediately for instruction on how to proceed. If your emergency is occurring after our office hours your call will be handled by our answering service and Dr. Butler will contact you as needed.