That piercing tooth pain hits at the worst times – often late at night plus weekends when dental offices stay closed. A dental crisis brings physical discomfort as well as mental stress. Knowledge of what to expect during such urgent situations proves valuable.
This practical guide explains typical dental emergencies along with key steps to take before you reach an emergency dentist in your area.
What Makes A Dental Emergency?
Any situation making it necessary to act “immediately” to salvage a tooth, control profuse bleeding, or put out pulsing pain serves as the basis of a dental emergency. Although there are some dental problems that can be managed over a routine appointment, others require urgent dental care in order to avoid irreversible damage or worsening of the situation. Dental health issues that occur daily may be counterproductive to the prevention of oral health issues.
Severe Toothache: More Than Just an Inconvenience
From our experience, sharp teeth pain is one of the most frequently reported dental emergencies in Rochester Hills (and the neighborhood). Dental emergencies can be excruciating, and, as a result, they often limit people from eating normally, sleeping or even thinking. This intense pain might indicate several serious conditions, including:
- Advanced tooth decay reaching the nerve
- An abscess or infection
- A cracked or fractured tooth
- Exposed tooth roots due to gum recession
For the best possible outcome to timely dental pain relief, wash your mouth with warm water and remove any food that is stuck in your mouth with dental floss. Although OTC pain relievers provide short-term relief for emergency toothache, they should not be considered as the long-term option. Avoid applying aspirin directly to the gum/tooth, as it can lead to tissue damage.
Knocked-Out Tooth: Time is of the Essence
There is no other oral emergency that causes as much fear as knocked-out teeth. On the positive side, with appropriate intervention and thoughtful nursing, knocked-out teeth can and do get saved. If you are in one of these situations, please do these critical actions.
Start by extracting the tooth by the crown (tip) rather than the root. If the tooth is dirty, rinse it gently in milk or saline solution; do not wash it with water or scrub it. Attempt to reimplant the tooth back into the socket if that can be done. If you cannot, store it in milk or in a special tooth preservation container that can be found in pharmacies.
Time is crucial. You typically have about 30 minutes to an hour to get to an emergency dentist for the best chance of saving the tooth. That is why it is important to know which facility provides emergency dental care in your area.
Cracked or Broken Teeth: A Common but Serious Emergency
Sports injuries, car accidents, or even mastics of hard food material can cause chipped or broken teeth. Severity can vary in the amount of a crack (e.g., a small crack at the border of the gingiva) or a large deep crack that penetrates below the gum margin. If you’ve broken a tooth:
At the earliest possible opportunity, rinse your mouth with warm water to withdraw it. Application of a cold compress to the face is mandatory for swelling and pain relief. Also, find the missing piece and bring it to the dentist. Sharp edges can be temporarily shielded from the mouth through the use of dental wax from the local corner drugstore until it can be properly splinted by a dentist.
Lost Fillings or Crowns: Protecting Exposed Teeth
When a filling/crown is lost, the tooth becomes a target for occlusal plane sensitivity and invasiveness. In the interim, between getting emergency dental care, there are a number of steps you can take to preserve the tooth.
You also need to keep it clean by rinsing or washing it with a warm saline solution. If you still have the crown, re-establish it temporarily using perfumery dental cementing, but this is a temporary solution.
Dental Abscess: A Serious Infection
A dental abscess is an emergency infection. Symptoms include high pain, swelling, fever and bad breath. This syndrome is lethal unless treated because secondary dissemination to the rest of the body can occur. As you wait to be seen by an emergency dental professional, wash your mouth as often as possible with warm salt water to clear the infection to the oral surface and to provide the same temporary relief.
Seeking Professional Care
While these simple interventions can help you, they should not be substituted for standard-of-care dental treatment. When searching for “emergency dentist near me” in Rochester Hills, be sure they offer:
- Same-day emergency appointments
- Extended or weekend hours
- Comprehensive emergency dental services
- Experience handling various dental emergencies
- Clear communication about treatment options and costs
Preventing Dental Emergencies
The best solution for avoiding dental emergencies is early prevention. Optimal oral hygiene, preventative dental visits, and sports protective mouth guards all contribute to reducing the likelihood of dental emergencies. On the other hand, in an emergency, a plan can yield a totally different outcome.
When to Visit Elegant Edge Dentistry
At Elegant Edge Dentistry we know dental emergencies hit hard plus feel really scary. Our expert team stands ready to take care of many pressing dental issues plus offers quick help right when you need it. We deliver fast emergency dental care in Rochester Hills so you’ll receive timely treatment if something goes wrong.
Conclusion: Your Partner in Dental Emergencies
Dental emergencies can occur to anybody. However, the way an individual copes with the emergency can lead to retain or lose a tooth. Folks, although this is a collection of suggestions, they are not to be taken as replacements for treatment, i.e., If you’re experiencing severe dental pain or any other dental emergency, contact an emergency dentist immediately.
For patients in Rochester Hills and its vicinities, Elegant Edge Dentistry can be consulted to handle your emergency needs in the care of dentistry. Our experienced, clinically appropriate staff is ready to give you the professionally required professional attention that will help you manage your dental emergency and ensure you will not get into trouble in the future.
Dental emergencies should not jeopardize your well-being. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if something’s not right.
