Emergency Dental Care

If you have a dental emergency you should promptly seek dental care immediately. Many dental practices set after hour time for emergency dental procedures. Make sure to keep your dentist after hour contact information readily available in case a dental emergency does arise. Here are a few dental tips to keep in mind when contacting your dentist relating to dental emergencies. Knowing when to contact your dentist for a dental emergency can mean saving a tooth or losing your tooth.

A Knocked-Out Tooth

Injuries to the mouth that knocks out a tooth is a dental emergency that requires immediate dental care. If you take appropriate actions, the tooth can be saved by visiting your dentist immediately. If an accident causes you to lose a tooth, here are some simple tips to do to avoid potentially losing a tooth before you can visit a dentist.

1. Carefully pick up the tooth by not touching the roots. Touching the roots or rubbing on it can cause significant damage to the tooth. Inside a tooth, the root is the living part of the tooth. For this reason, the root should be handled carefully.
2. Carefully rinse the tooth with saline if available or with cool water to remove any debris or dirt. However, you should not remove any tissue that is attached to the tooth. Your dentist can make this decision once you arrive to the office. Removing any tissue can damage the tooth.
3. If a tooth can safely be put back in its socket, you should carefully place the tooth back in the socket and gentle bite down to keep it in place until you arrive at the dental office.
4. Don’t waste time, call your dentist immediately to schedule an emergency visit. The longer you wait, the higher the chance you will lose the tooth.

Misaligned Tooth

A tooth that is misaligned can increase the chance of losing a tooth. This can be cause by biting down on the misaligned tooth causing it to crack, dislodge, or loosen. If this happens, should gently bite down to keep the tooth from moving or dislodge. Call and visit your dentist immediately. The pain from a split or cracked tooth can be very painful. The longer you wait the tooth get infected and will require more extensive dental procedures. In the worst-case scenario, a tooth extraction may be needed.

Cracked or Chipped Tooth

Cracking or chipping a tooth can happen if you play sports or have prior dental issues. If you should chip a tooth and it does not hurt, it may not require immediate dental care. If the chipped tooth hurts or it becomes cracked, this would be an emergency requiring evaluation by a dentist. Sometimes a crack may not always be visible and not visiting a dentist can lead to further complications such as tooth infection or lead to a split tooth. A dentist can work to stabilize the crack tooth, so it can be saved. If you suffer a crack tooth, follow these simple tips.

1. Clean your mouth out by gently rinsing with lukewarm water.
2. If you suffer an accident to the jaw, place a cold pack around the area of injury to reduce swelling.
3. If you fell pain, take acetaminophen to help reduce pain.
4. Don’t apply over the counter local anesthetize such as Orajel or Benzocaine, these types of medication can burn the gum or damage the roots.

If you are experiencing a dental emergency, call our California Dental Group at (800) 407-0161 to schedule an immediate appointment