TAKING CARE OF DENTAL EMERGENCIES WHILST WAITING FOR AN APPOINTMENT

Not all toothaches happen out of nowhere; sometimes, we have accidents that cause us pain too. After googling for an 'emergency dentist near me', we might just find we need to wait a while to be seen.

One thing is true across the board, though, when something does happen with your teeth, you do need to head to a dentist as soon as you can to get it taken care of so that it doesn't get worse.

Here are a few things you can do to help take care of your teeth at home until you get to a dentist.

Severe Pain

Toothache rarely feels mild because our mouth is packed with nerves, and even the slightest pain can be excruciating. Often one of the causes of tooth pain is that there is an infection in the area.

After making the initial call to the dentist, there are a few things that you can do at home.

Rinse your mouth with cool boiled water - your dentist can recommend if it should be salt water.
Use a warm pack or a cool pack to help the area that has pain and reduce some of the swelling.
Don't add aspirin to the gums, as this can burn the tissue.
If you have trouble swallowing, make sure to tell the dentist, and they may recommend you head to A&E.
Write a list of all of your medication - just in case you can't talk well when you get there.

Cracked Tooth

Cracked teeth can be the result of a knock to the face or even a crunch-boiled sweet. While they are common, they do need to be checked out at the dentist. Cracks in the teeth will allow bacteria in and are impossible to keep clean at home.

Using a cold pack, you can help reduce any of the swellings that might occur on the face and the gums after a trauma.
Rinse your mouth with warm water
Depending on how long you are going to wait for an appointment, you might be able to take some OTC painkillers.

Broken Tooth

A cracked tooth and a broken tooth can both be treated in a similar way. Broken teeth can be very painful based on how much of the tooth was broken off.

Often a broken tooth happens with impact, and the impact can cause a lot of swelling. One of the first things to do is to have an ice pack applied to the face.
Rinsing the area is important, but it can also be painful.
If you have access to sterile gauze, it is a good idea to place that in your mouth to protect the tooth from the air and other liquids.

Tooth Knocked Out

It takes a lot of force to pull a tooth out cleanly, and when they are knocked out, there are more likely to be parts of the tooth lodged in the gums.

If you can find the tooth, it is important to do so
Sometimes a tooth that has been knocked out can lodge elsewhere in the mouth.
Clean the tooth if possible with water
Put the tooth back in the socket - but do not touch the opening or the root of the tooth.
When replacement is not possible, keep the tooth in the mouth between the cheek and gum until your emergency appointment.

If you have no dental emergency, then keeping regular appointments is a must - but what about things that fall somewhere in between? Time To Make A Dentist's Appointment?

SWEETIESAL