During the weekends and at night, most dental clinics are closed. However, you might develop oral health complications. Such dental problems might not wait until your dentist is open for treatments due to the risk of developing further complications.
To prevent losing your teeth or other secondary complications, you can contact your dentist and schedule an emergency dental visit. During the emergency dental visit, your dentist will offer treatments to save your teeth and prevent complications.
If you have another dental problem that doesn’t risk further complications, your dentist might another visit later.
How To Respond To Dental Emergencies
Not all oral health issues require emergency dental care. Therefore, you should consider contacting your dentist before scheduling an emergency visit. Dental emergencies are associated with excruciating pain, discomfort, and the risk of complications.
Below are the common dental emergencies and how to respond to them:
Broken or Knocked-Out Tooth
During your daily activities or when playing sports, you might fall or get knocked. The impact from the blow, fall, or collision can fracture or knock out your tooth.
In such a case, you might experience bleeding, excruciating pain, and sometimes be at risk of losing your tooth. To prevent such complications, you should consider seeking emergency dental treatments near you.
If your tooth is fallen out, collect it and wash it under running water without touching the roots. Next, you can store the tooth in milk or saliva. Alternatively, you can consider placing back in its socket. You can then drive to the nearest dental clinic within an hour to increase the chances of saving your tooth.
Bleeding
Have you had a dental implant surgery or tooth extraction and experiencing bleeding? Then, you might consider seeking emergency dental services. To prevent excessive blood loss, you can bite down a gauze pad. In case there is no gauze pad available, you can use a teabag. Once the gauze pad or tea bag is soaked, replace it with a clean one.
If the bleeding persists, contact your dentist and schedule emergency care. It is also advisable to avoid using blood thinners after dental surgery.
Unexplained Toothache and Swelling
If you bite down a hard object, you might experience mild pain that can translate to toothache. However, if you experience unexplained toothache and swelling that persists, you can consider contacting your dentist.
Sometimes toothache and swelling might be signs of a root canal or gum infection. Worst case scenario, swelling on your jaw might be a sign of oral cancer. However, with early diagnosis and treatments, you can beat oral cancer. Therefore, you should not ignore such signs.
To ease the pain, you can use pain relievers according to the dentist’s prescriptions. For swelling, you can place an ice pack over the face above the swollen area. However, don’t place the ice packs on your skin for long.
Tooth Abscess
A dental abscess can cause excruciating pain and discomfort. Sometimes, you might experience difficulties swallowing, breathing, and sleeping. Apart from pain and discomfort, dental abscesses can subject you to the risk of secondary complications.
Therefore, you should consider visiting the nearest dentist in Rockville, MD, for treatments. To reduce the pain and discomfort, you can swish clove oil in your mouth. Clove oil will reduce the cold sensation on your tooth or gums. However, avoid poking the dental abscess to prevent the risk of further complications.
Damaged Tooth Restoration
Do you have a taste of coins in your mouth? You might have a damaged dental crown or filling. When you have a damaged tooth restoration, you might be at risk of infections since bacteria gain entry to your enamels.
Therefore, you should seek emergency dental care to prevent such complications. In the meantime, you can rinse your mouth using warm saline water to prevent the risk of infections.
Preventing Dental Emergencies
To prevent such dental situations, our dentist at Montgomery Dental Associates & Implantology Center recommends the following:
- Brushing your teeth twice daily using fluoride toothpaste and replacing your toothbrush regularly
- Flossing between your teeth at least once a day to prevent the accumulation of plaque and tartar
- Visit your dentist regularly for dental exams and cleanings
- Avoid biting or chewing on hard foods or objects to prevent damaging your dental restorations
- Wear a protective mouthguard when playing contact sports to prevent dental injuries