When facing a dental issue, your first call should be to your dentist. But sometimes you encounter problems on weekends, holidays, or in the dead of night. If you are facing a dental issue that is severe or outside of regular office hours for appointments, the probability is that you will need emergency dental care. First, you must determine if it is actually an emergency or something that can wait for regular office hours. You need to know how to ask: “Do I have a dental emergency?” Fortunately, Lovett Dental Beaumont is always available to not only answer your questions but also get you to see a dentist as soon as possible.
How Do I Know if I Have a Dental Emergency?
To determine if the problem is an emergency or not, ask yourself a series of questions.
First, are you experiencing severe pain? Bleeding and severe pain are indicators of an emergency. Second, have you experienced the loss of a tooth? Rapid treatment can potentially save the tooth. Third, do you have loose teeth? As adults should not ever lose teeth, a loose tooth is a serious problem. Fourth, do you have an abscess or an infection? These can be life-threatening; treatment should begin immediately. Swelling or knots may appear on your face or gums. Finally, are you bleeding? This is potentially an emergency if so.
Things That Are Not Dental Emergencies
Some problems that appear to be critical can wait for a day or two if you tend yourself properly. It’s important not to panic and be patient but to contact the professionals at Lovett Dental Beaumont. A cracked or chipped tooth can wait if the pain is not severe or the damage has not left behind sharp fragments to cause oral trauma. A toothache can await treatment if the pain is tolerable and there are no symptoms of an abscess. A lost filling or crown may not need urgent treatment but still reach out. However, don’t downplay your pain or discomfort. Not scheduling an appointment immediately can lead to more serious damage.
How Do I Handle a Dental Emergency?
You can take some steps for dental problems while waiting for your visit to the emergency dentist:
- For toothaches, rinse your mouth thoroughly with warm water and use dental floss to dislodge food. Apply a cold compress to the cheek of a swollen mouth.
- For broken or chipped teeth, save pieces if you can. Again, use warm water to rinse your mouth. Rinse the broken pieces as well.
- To address bleeding, use a piece of gauze on the area. A cold compress is again useful when applied outside your cheek, lip, or mouth.
- For knocked-out teeth, retrieve the tooth by handling it by the crown, or upper segment of the tooth. Rinse the root with water if it is dirty, avoid the reflex to scrub or remove attached tissue fragments. If you can, replace the tooth, ensuring that it faces the correct direction. Do not force a tooth into its socket. If it does not permit reinsertion, store the tooth in a small cup of milk or water with just a regular table salt pinch.
See us at Lovett Dental Beaumont as quickly as you can to save the tooth; the highest chances of success are in those cases seen by a dentist within an hour of the incident where the tooth was knocked out.
What to Expect at Lovett Dental
At Lovett Dental Beaumont, we are experts in multidisciplinary dentistry, featuring six specialty care forms: pediatric, endodontist, orthodontist, periodontist, and maxillofacial surgery. Our services include general dentistry, veneers, implant-supported dentures, children’s dentistry, and high-end cosmetic dentistry, as well as our emergency services. Contact us at 409-924-8100 when you find yourself saying: “I have a dental emergency, what do I do?” We’ll get you or your family the treatment necessary to keep up your oral health.
