Don’t Panic When Dental Emergencies Occur.
Introduction
A dental emergency is a real situation. A dental emergency dentist sees multiple cases of children falling face forward and bruising their lips, chipping the incisors, a tooth popping out, and midnight toothaches. Unforeseen situations like this demand an immediate call to action.
What do we suggest you do?
Don’t panic.
Panic accomplishes nothing and leads to a slew of bad decisions. Rushing to the closest emergency room may lead to a long wait and the completion of formalities. Thus, it will be great if you see your dentist for dental emergencies who lives around the corner for help.
Above all, know the dental emergency tips that come in handy at all times.
Concepts:
The Canadian Dental Association qualifies dental emergencies as life-threatening. There is a fine line between dental emergencies and urgencies. Urgences usually necessitate immediate dental care, but only to relieve excruciating pain; they are not fatal. However, in common verbiage, they are used synonymously.
What are the emergencies that are routinely encountered by a dental emergency dentist?
- Excessive bleeding. Bleeding from an extraction socket that doesn’t stop hours after the procedure. The mouth fills up with large blood clots and there is definite oozing.
- Head trauma in road traffic accidents. A lip cut, jaw fractures, missing teeth, and so on.
- Cellulitis or airway swellings. These are dangerous. A simple abscess, tooth infection, or gum boil can release pus inside the jaw tissue instead of forming a visible pimple. The pus flows in the spaces between muscles and bones causing a hard, warm, dark swelling.
- A severe sharp shooting pain on biting something very hard.
- Night toothaches, that snowball into an earache, headache, and jaw fatigue.
- Accidentally avulsed or knocked-out teeth; common in both children and adults.
- An unexpected blow or sports injury to the teeth. Lips or jaws.
- The gnawing nagging pain of an unerupted wisdom tooth and severe sensitivity to hot/cold/sour/sweet associate
- Post-operative pain: very common after the first appointment of root canal therapy (RCT) on teeth that had a longstanding infection.
- Dental emergencies occur during the dental procedure as well, for example, an episode of fainting.
Dental emergencies in Waterdown offer you an array of dental emergency tips. We believe in the awareness and complete education of our patients.
To discuss a few:
- Non-stop bleeding: cold-pack compressions, done intermittently help. Place the pack for 10 seconds and remove it for 5 seconds. Do it several times to help reduce bleeding. Biting down on a gauze piece and holding it for 10 minutes also has similar outcomes. If the bleeding still does not stop, contact the dental emergency dentist, who will prescribe an oral blood coagulant tablet that needs to be taken hourly or two hourly to reduce the bleeding. Drink enough fluids to keep yourself hydrated.
- Trauma-causing bruises: a dental surgeon needs to see the patient eventually to stitch up the cut. However, prior to that, at-home cotton compresses and betadine (or any antiseptic) wipes can help keep the wound clean.
- Severe toothaches at night: nothing much can be done at home, to be honest. However, you can take a dose of Tylenol ( Acetaminophen)/ Advil ( Ibuprofen) or any painkillers that suit you. Brush the concerned tooth and the gums well. Visit the dentist the next day for a consult and x-rays. Such scenarios either need RCT or extraction.
- For hypersensitive teeth and gnawing pain: brushing and keeping the area squeaky clean helps to subside symptoms. Warm water with salt rinses calms the sore gums or the wisdom toothache. When you see your dentist for dental emergencies, he will either suggest teeth cleaning or a wisdom tooth extraction, depending on the clinical examination.
- A tooth that has been knocked out: Be quick, whether you’re dealing with an adult or a child. You have one hour to get to the dentist with the ‘tooth’. Cold milk is the ideal way to store an avulsed tooth. The tooth is treated further by the dentist, who cleans and replaces the tooth in the socket and splints it.
- A trauma, blow, or road accident case needs to be taken to the hospital at the earliest. Do not try out homely tips and tricks, as this might cause a delay in any immediate care that is required.
- On a similar note, cellulitis/large swellings on the face or neck can be fatal if ignored. Visit a dental surgeon at the earliest. The dentist/emergency doctor will advise IV antibiotics, high-dose pain medicines, oxygen support, IV fluids, and surgical drainage of the pus.
Conclusion:
Now that you are well educated, do not panic in a dental emergency.
