In This Article
What is an Emergency Dental Service?
The American Dental Association defines dental emergencies as potentially life-threatening threatening dental issues that require immediate attention. Dental emergencies can stop ongoing bleedings, severe pains, infections, and other dental problems. Dental emergencies don’t only relate to life-threatening situations; they can also include severe dental problems that cause immense pain and distress. Emergency dental services refer to those that alleviate or mitigate the pain, providing immediate treatment. One should always be prepared for dental emergencies because they can occur anywhere and anytime, without warning. Despite that, most people don’t know the first thing about how to handle dental emergencies or how emergency dentistry works. This dental emergencies articles will describe some of the top dental emergencies and how you can handle them.
Broken or Chipped Tooth
A broken or chipped tooth is one of the most obvious and painful dental emergencies. If you break or crack a tooth, you must contact your emergency dentist immediately. A broken or knocked-out tooth can be reattached, but only if you’re quick. After an hour, the likelihood of attaching the broken tooth diminishes considerably. Meanwhile, you should rinse your mouth with warm water, gently wash the broken tooth, and hold the tooth between your empty socket or in an airtight container with salt water or milk.
Fractured Teeth
Your teeth may get fractured for several reasons, including dental decay, trauma, or biting hard objects like nuts or ice. If you fracture or crack your tooth, you should contact your dentist and describe the situation. Not all fractured teeth constitute dental emergencies. If you have a hairline crack, you can even wait for a few days before contacting a dentist. Depending on the severity of the fracture, the emergency dentist will either fix it with dental fillings or dental crowns. In the worst scenarios, if the damage extends under the gums, the dentist may also need to extract your tooth. Regardless of the severity of the fracture, you should contact your dentist near me and allow them to assess your tooth’s condition.
Lost Crown or Filling
Losing a dental crown or filling can be terrifying, especially if you’re concerned that you may have swallowed it. Even if you do swallow it, rest assured you won’t die. But if you can find the loose crown or filling, keep it in an airtight container. Your tooth will be very sensitive without the crown or filling, but you can use clove oil to minimize the sensitivity or apply dental cement from a local drug store. Lost crowns and fillings aren’t urgent dental emergencies, but you should contact your dental clinic and follow their recommendation.
Persistent Toothaches
Toothaches may be severe or mild; emergencies or non-emergencies; toothaches can be interpreted in a lot of different ways. Toothaches can also be symptomatic of a variety of issues, including gum disease, gum inflammation, bacterial decay, dental abscess, and a lot more. If you have a mild toothache, you can try to control it by rinsing your mouth with warm saltwater and biting down on a tea bag because the tannic acid can be soothing. However, if you have a severe or persistent toothache that lasts more than 24 hours, you must contact your dentist open near me. A persistent and severe toothache can be symptomatic of dangerous dental issues like a dental abscess, which requires immediate attention.
Bleeding Gums
Are your gums bleeding when you brush? If so, you may have periodontitis, which is advanced gum disease. Periodontitis occurs because of the severe accumulation of plaque and tartar in your gums, which can lead to bacterial infection, leading to gum recession. Eventually, your gums may recede so much that you suffer from loss of bone structure and teeth. As such, you must contact a dentist immediately if you have bleeding gums.
How does Emergency Dentist work?
Emergency dentistry refers to treatments provided to offer immediate relief. If your tooth is knocked out, the emergency dentistry solution would involve trying to reattach the tooth to your empty socket, or treating the open wound if reattachment isn’t possible. If your soft tissues are bleeding, the dentist will heal the wound. If you have severe toothaches, the dentist will identify the root cause of tooth pain and provide medications to minimize the pain.
I have a dental emergency. What should I do?
Most people start panicking during dental emergencies, which usually worsens the situation further. People panic when they don’t know what to do. If you have a dental emergency, you can follow these tips:
- Breathe deeply and calmly assess the situation before taking any action.
- If you can see your tooth or mouth, try to assess the situation and the source of the problem. This will give you a better idea of the problem, which you can then relate to your dentist when you call them.
- If your tooth is knocked out, you should salvage it and store it in an airtight container.
- Contact your dentist and explain the situation. Follow their advice to the letter.
- If the situation is severe, the dentist may ask you to either go to the hospital’s emergency room, or visit their dental clinic immediately, or schedule an appointment for later.
Where do I get emergency dental care services?
URBN Dental is one of the most reputable dental clinics in Houston for emergency dental services. Our Houston dentist is available on Saturdays, and you can also contact the dentist after-hours during emergencies. Our dental clinics are highly accessible, located in Uptown Houston and Midtown Houston. Our Uptown URBN Dental clinic is just a stone’s throw away from The Galleria shopping mall. And our URBN Dental Midtown clinic is in the prime artist’s district, next to the Ensemble Theater or HCC Metro Rail stop. For more information, please schedule an appointment with our emergency dental clinic today.
Summary:
The American Dental Association defines dental emergencies as potentially life-threatening threatening dental issues that require immediate attention. Dental emergencies can stop ongoing bleedings, severe pains, infections, and other dental problems. Dental emergencies don’t only relate to life-threatening situations; they can also include severe dental problems that cause immense pain and distress. Emergency dental services refer to those that alleviate or mitigate the pain, providing immediate treatment. One should always be prepared for dental emergencies because they can occur anywhere and anytime, without warning. According to dental emergencies, you must always remain calm, assess the situation, and contact your emergency dental care clinic for advice. URBN Dental is one of the most reputable dental clinics in Houston for emergency dental care services. Our Houston dentist is available on Saturdays, and you can also contact the dentist after-hours during emergencies. Our dental clinics are highly accessible, located in Uptown Houston and Midtown Houston. For more information, please schedule an appointment with our emergency dental clinic today.