Preventing dental emergencies through regular oral health maintenance and preventive dentistry services is ideal, but when, an issue arise it must be handled quickly to minimize damage, limit pain and discomfort and save lives.
Understanding when an issue constitutes a dental emergency is often difficult, however, any issue causing severe pain, bleeding or knocked-out teeth should be considered urgent and treated as such.
Causes
Good oral hygiene practices can help avoid dental emergencies; however, in certain situations - like toothache, dislodged or fractured teeth, oral bleeding or swelling or lost restorations like fillings or crowns - immediate treatment must be sought immediately.
These issues can occur at any time without warning, from playing sports to riding bikes and car accidents, work-related incidents and simply sleeping with an ice cream cone in your mouth. Tumors and trigeminal nerve neuralgia, as well as any medical conditions that involve tumors or trigeminal nerve neuralgia can all present with jaw pain. Any intense discomfort that persists should be considered an emergency dental situation and treated immediately in order to avoid irreparable damage and serious complications later. Dental emergencies also encompass injuries to soft tissues of the mouth or jaw bones that require immediate medical intervention and may lead to infection if left untreated. Furthermore, the longer these issues go unaddressed the more expensive and extensive their treatments become.
Symptoms
Know when it is an oral health emergency can be hard, but generally speaking any issue causing severe pain or accompanied by blood must be attended to immediately.
Accident or trauma-caused tooth damage requires prompt medical treatment, including any lacerations to the gums, lips, cheeks or tongue. Knocked-out teeth (use gauze or milk to keep in place until dental professionals arrive); knocked-out wisdom teeth or any injury causing excessive bleeding or swelling should all be attended to immediately.
Dental abscesses are serious infections that can spread to both teeth and jawbone. When left untreated, dental abscesses can lead to tooth and jaw infections which are usually painful and identifiable by pimple-like bumps on gums or foul taste in mouth. Other indicators may include tender lymph nodes in neck region, fever and general feeling of illness. Emergency care services may help drain pus from an abscess and treat infection before spreading further.
Treatment
If a dental emergency strikes, immediate treatment must be provided; otherwise, its severity could worsen significantly and become potentially life-threatening.
As soon as severe toothache or knocked-out tooth occurs, prompt action should be taken immediately to mitigate complications like infections or jaw fractures. Infections can spread into soft tissues of the mouth and lead to swelling and bleeding; trauma to jaw bones could compromise airway passageway leading to serious health concerns for patients.
Dental emergencies often appear suddenly and without warning, making diagnosis challenging. A patient may experience symptoms like swelling, nonstop bleeding and pain that doesn't respond to medication; along with fever or knocked-out teeth. Emergency dentists provide effective solutions for such issues to ensure patients experience positive outcomes as quickly as possible while helping patients learn how to avoid future emergencies.
Prevention
Routinely receiving tetanus shots, practicing proper oral hygiene and having regular dental checkups are effective ways of avoiding most dental emergencies; however, accidents do happen and when they do they can be frightening and even painful experiences.
Emergency dental care should always be considered when experiencing intense discomfort, bleeding and swelling that threatens tooth loss. Failure to seek assistance quickly could result in further issues, including bone infection.
Dental trauma occurs when patients bite down too hard, play contact sports without wearing a mouthguard, or chew on objects like glass that break their teeth. Furthermore, any missing cavity fillings or crowns create a potential source of infection so it is imperative that these materials are quickly replaced in order to ensure health.
If you're uncertain if your condition requires an emergency visit, call the clinic to make an inquiry and seek advice from one of their dentists. A dentist can give additional instructions such as how to treat a knocked-out tooth or stop bleeding at home if necessary.