Dental emergencies can happen anytime, anywhere; it doesn’t matter if you have the best smile or not. It’s sudden, painful, uncomfortable, and inconvenient all in one. At times like these, it’s important to have an emergency dental clinic to turn to, but you also need to know what dental issues require an emergency visit to the dentist. It’s important to know what these are since it could make all the difference in restoring your smile.

What dental cases require urgent dental treatment?

A dental emergency refers to any condition or ailment that requires immediate attention from an emergency dentist or any other dental health professional so they can help provide relief, stop severe pain and bleeding, and save your tooth. Here are some instances that require you to visit the emergency dentist ASAP:

Knocked-out tooth (avulsed tooth).

One of the most common cases of dental problems that need immediate treatment is a knocked-out tooth. It could be due to suffering from facial trauma, contact sports, or getting into an accident that knocks your tooth out, as the name suggests. If you ever find yourself in this unfortunate situation, it’s crucial that you try to hold on to your teeth by the crown and avoid touching the root. Wash off the dirt and debris with clean water, and if you can, try and put your tooth back in its socket. If reinstallation is not possible, you can put your tooth in a container filled with special tooth preservation or with milk and head to the nearest emergency dental clinic. In cases like these, you must act quickly to improve the chances of saving your tooth.

Severe toothache.

Many of us have suffered a toothache in our lives. There are home remedies and over-the-counter medicines that help deal with the pain, since a toothache is usually an indicator of a cavity. However, a severe toothache is a different matter; this is a throbbing that could be an indicator of a more serious issue, like an abscess. For those who don’t know what it is, an abscess is caused by bacterial infection, resulting in a pocket of pus swelling in the area around your infected tooth. Like all infections, it can be pretty serious if left unchecked since it could spread to other parts of the body. If you have a high fever, swelling on your face or jaw, or a pimple-like bump on your gums on top of the severe toothache, it’s best to head to the emergency dentist ASAP.

Chipped or cracked tooth.

As mentioned above, blunt force from an accident or even contact sports could also result in dental injuries like a chipped or cracked tooth. This could also happen to you if you happen to bite into something hard, and even though a chipped tooth is far less painful than a knocked-out tooth, you should still get emergency dental treatment. This is because the crack in your tooth can expose the inner pulp, leading to sensitivity, pain, or worse: bacterial infection.

Go see a dentist so they can assess the extent of your cracked tooth and recommend the necessary treatment.

Loose or extruded tooth.

Similar to a chipped tooth, a loose tooth that’s pushed out of its original position requires immediate dental attention. In cases like this one, a dentist would try to put it back in position by using a splint. Besides this, your attending dentist will also check your gums and jaw, as well as the surrounding tissue of your extruded tooth, to see if there are any other injuries or anomalies.

There are placements within our oral cavity that could bleed profusely; hence, checking the surrounding tissue and gums is important. If bleeding is continuous, make sure to apply pressure using a clean, dry cloth while waiting for the dentist’s or doctor’s treatment.

What do I do while waiting for emergency dental treatment?

Now that you know what constitutes a dental emergency, here are some things you can do while waiting for your emergency dental appointment.

For those who are suffering from a severe toothache, you can alleviate the pain for a bit by rinsing your mouth with warm salt water. This not only brings relief, but it also cleans the area and reduces the swelling.

If you have a cracked or chipped tooth, you can cover the sharp edge with dental wax to avoid cutting your gums, tongue, or the inside of your mouth. If you don’t have dental wax, sugar-free gum will do.

Keep in mind that these are just temporary fixes; it’s best to head to the emergency dentist or doctor so you can get the right solution for your dental concern.