Maybe you’re on a nice run in the park. Maybe you’re literally running late to work and tripping on things all the way to the front door—when suddenly…OUCH!
You see a bit of bleeding coming from the mouth and feel a new gap in your smile. Where is your tooth? Oh, no! Is this a dental emergency?
Thankfully, your dentist in West Hampton has put together a checklist to help you determine whether or not urgent dental care needed, plus some tips for what you can do in the meantime to stay calm and reduce pain! Everything you need to know about dental emergencies is here in this week’s blog post.
Is This a Real Dental Emergency?
Anytime that you experience excruciating dental pain, bleeding, swelling, or damaged/lost teeth, you have a dental emergency on your hands. There are some cases where a dental accident isn’t as urgent as other ones. Here are the urgent dental emergencies that you need to see a dentist for right away:
- Excessive bleeding that won’t stop, even after compression.
- A lost tooth
- A broken restoration
- An excruciating toothache.
If you happen to have a less painful dental accident, one that doesn’t cause you to cringe in pain, you can schedule an appointment rather than rushing by the office.
Is a tooth broken or completely knocked out?
It’s one of the most common types of dental emergencies: a broken, fractured or completely knocked out tooth. If it happens, collect the tooth (or its pieces), clean it off, and keep it safe in a container of milk until you can reach our office.
Is your toothache unbearable?
When a tooth pain gets to the point where it prevents you from completing your daily tasks, it qualifies as a dental emergency that should be treated by your local dentist. Left untreated, it could turn into something far more serious — like an infection that spreads everywhere in the body –even your brain! It’s best to get help addressing it as early on as possible.
You can’t plan for your next dental emergency, but you can help yourself be more prepared by programming adding our phone number to your phone. It’s best to stay prepared with the help of your dentist’s advice right in the back of your pocket!