A dental emergency may occur any moment. Mostly it occurs when you are expecting the least. Unavoidable consequences of such dental conditions are severe pain, unbearable discomfort and obviously anxiety. Some of the typical examples of such oral health conditions include a chipped or partially broken tooth, a convulsed tooth or tooth completely knocked out from its socket in your jaw, unbearable pain in the tooth or a sudden blow received on the face or the mouth causing dental trauma.
The key to early recovery with minimal suffering and downtime from such conditions depends on how much clarity you have about handling such situations. In the following sections of this post let us explore few factual information regard correct handling of dental emergency situations.
You must know when to seek immediate help of qualified dentists
The basic means of handling any dental emergency is having clear-cut idea about when to seek professional help from a qualified dentist. In other words you must be aware about the symptoms related to dental conditions for which you must seek professional help immediately. Here are a few examples below –
Acute pain in the tooth
You may suffer from intense pain in the tooth. The pain is severe enough and it does not ease even with standard pain medicines that are available over the chemists’ counters. An emergency dentist with years of experience in handling patients in London says, usually the underlying cause behind such symptoms includes an advanced decay or an abscess in the tooth. A dental abscess when left ignored and untreated easily spread the infection to other parts of your body. As a result your overall health and wellbeing also come under a big risk.
In any case, you must get properly diagnosed by a dentist immediately if you experience such symptom.
Partially broken or chipped teeth or teeth completely knocked out from the socket
An accident may occur any moment without any prior warning. You may receive an injury in sports. There could be an accidental trip and fall. You may get involved in a fistfight or receive a severe blow on the face or the jaw. Road accidents are also a common way to receive severe injuries in the mouth. Such incidents are always traumatic. The faster you rush to a dentist and the right treatment starts, the higher are the chances of retaining the injured teeth.
In such conditions you must immediately seek an appointment from an emergency dentist nearby. In case the tooth or teeth are knocked out, you should get hold of the teeth first. Then make sure to handle those gently only with the crown. Preserve the teeth in a cup of cold milk or cold water while carrying them for your emergency dental appointment.
Cold fluid helps keeping the roots of the teeth alive much longer. So there are higher chances of retaining the teeth.
Gum disease or gingivitis
This is another alarming dental condition that requires an urgent appointment with an emergency dentist. Typical symptoms involved in this condition are redness, swelling, inflammation and bleeding from the teeth and the gums especially when you brush or floss.
If you ignore the initial stages of the condition, you invite greater complications in near future. Severe stages of gingivitis show up in form of periodontitis. You may suffer teeth loss at this stage. Just a timely visit to an emergency dentist in London or anywhere else can actually save you from further sufferings and loss down the timeline.
Broken dental crowns or fillings
You may have undergone dental restoration works like crowns and fillings earlier. The restoration work may break or undergo damage. Thus the underlying tooth becomes vulnerable further damage. This may even trigger pain and sensitivity. In such circumstances you must seek an immediate appointment with an emergency dentist. The dentist will get the tooth back to its previous stage.
When you recognise the signs of a dental emergency quickly, you should consider it as a blessing. Immediate actions prove helpful avoiding further complications. At the same time you also assure your faster recovery.
Tips to handle few common dental emergencies before seeing a dentist
During the time you actually get to see a dentist on an emergency appointment, it is better if you could manage the situation in the right way. A dentist sees patients out of hours in London. He suggests the following tips.
Dealing with severe pain in the tooth
One of the first things for you to do is rinse the mouth thoroughly with lukewarm saltwater solution. If there is swelling it is better to apply a cold compress from outside the affected area. It is a good idea to take standard pain medications that are available over the counter in drugstores. But never ever place aspirin or any other pain medicine directly on the gum. That may cause irritation or even burning of the tissues of the gum.
Tooth or teeth completely knocked out of the gum socket
In these cases you have to handle the convulsed tooth or teeth carefully by the crown. Crown is the top part of a tooth which remains visible from the gum, explains an emergency dentist near me. This is how you can avoid damage to the roots of the tooth. If you can place it back in the socket, it is good, else carry it in a cup of cold milk or water to your emergency dentist. We have already explained the scientific reason behind doing this in a section above.
Partially broken or chipped teeth
In case your tooth suffers chips or partially breaks, first rinse the mouth with lukewarm water. If there are pain and swelling, cold compress is the ideal homecare therapy. The chip or breakage could leave a sharp edge or two in the tooth. Experienced dental professionals working at Emergency Dentist London Pro in London suggest covering it up with dental wax. If dental wax is not readily available, then sugar-free gum is a good alternative option. This saves the soft tissues in the mouth from getting cut.
