What You Should Do In A Dental Emergency

Have you accidentally knocked out a tooth or lost a filling? Discovered your braces are broken? Experiencing severe tooth pain? These dental emergencies can cause you great discomfort – let alone the panic. Whatever sticky situation you find yourself in, you’ll need to choose between emergency care or waiting until your usual dentist opens again.

The last thing you want is to pay for immediate, expensive treatment when the problem was minor enough to wait until the next work day. At the same time, you don’t want to put off treating something potentially serious and have it get even worse over that time.

Here’s what to do in a dental emergency to determine your next course of action:

When to wait

Many dental emergencies seem more urgent than they actually are. These might be uncomfortable or unsightly, but won’t cause harm should you wait to attend to them. If you have a dull toothache, a damaged/chipped/broken tooth, damaged wiring or a missing filling crown or bridge, you don’t need to seek urgent treatment. An over-the-counter painkiller will take care of mild discomfort and you might find relief from a non-prescription medicated mouthwash or ointment. If you can handle the pain and hold off until you can see your dentist, then it’s probably the best way to go.

When to go to emergency

Now that you know what doesn’t constitute a dental emergency, what does? If there’s a significant amount of blood or bleeding that does naturally clot and stop, you should seek assistance. The same principle applies if the pain is unbearable, you have knocked a tooth out, your actual jaw seems affected or you’re experiencing swelling and a fever. It’s important to make a choice sooner rather than later, especially if there’s a large amount of blood involved.

What to do

Whether your situation is urgent or not, there are guidelines you should follow that will ensure your recovery is quick and the least amount of work needs to be done to solve the problem. The most important of these is that you should never attempt to manually repair any problem by yourself. This applies should you chip a tooth, damage your braces or get something lodged in between your teeth. It might seem tempting, but it can increase your risk of pain and infection. Therefore, the less poking and prodding there is, the better.

If you’re wondering where to go in a dental emergency or would like to have a number handy for the future, make sure you save the details for the Carnegie Dental Group, who is open for extended hours on Saturday to assist with any situation.

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