Emergency Dentistry & Pain Management

It is important to know what kinds of injuries require emergency dental care, so you can make sure that your teeth are taken care of, while avoiding trips to an emergency room. Accidents happen, but we are here to help. Some oral injuries may need immediate treatment, while others can wait until our normal business hours.

Some common types of oral injuries include cracked, broken, or knocked out teeth, which can be a result of biting on a piece of food that is too hard, a sports-related injury, a fall, or any other type of accident. Depending on the severity of the injury and where the tooth is located, it is possible that a chipped tooth or minor fracture can wait for a call to the dentist during normal business hours.

However, if the crack is severe, there is a large piece of the tooth missing, or the tooth has nerve damage or is knocked out completely, you should seek immediate medical attention.

Caring for knocked out tooth

If the tooth is knocked out:

• • Handle it as little as possible.
  • See if you can put the tooth back in the socket, biting down on moistened gauze or a wet tea bag can help. Be very careful not to swallow the tooth.
  • If you can’t get the tooth to stay in the socket for your trip to the dentist or emergency room, rinse it off to get rid of any visible dirt and keep it in a container of milk or your saliva until a professional can see you.
  • You can apply a cold, wet compress to help with any bleeding coming from the tooth socket.

Sometimes the problem won’t be as clear as a knocked out or broken tooth; you may find yourself dealing with severe tooth pain, from an abscess tooth, for example. If you think you need emergency dental care, call us first at the location nearest you, listed here.