What Is A Dental Emergency and how do you know whether you need to call us right now or whether it can wait until regular office hours.
We know, it never fails, it’s the weekend, you are out of town or have out of town guests and a dental emergency strikes. It seems dental emergencies always happen when you’re not prepared or when you have other things going on in your life, right?
How can you decide whether you should call your dentist at Gendler Dental Center right now or if you can wait until the office reopens.
Here are some tips to help you decide what to do in the case of a dental health emergency.
We do know that if you’re in pain you simply don’t, and shouldn’t have to, wait to get dental help to deal with the pain. The dentists at Gendler Dental Center also know that if you don’t have a regular dentist or if you’re out of town, you need to know where you can go for help with your dental emergency and that’s why we offer an emergency dentist to assist.
What is a dental emergency?
- If you lose a tooth. This most often happens because of a sports injury. If you lose a tooth, retrieve it, hold it by the crown (don’t touch the roots). Rinse the tooth with warm water to clean it off, if necessary. Do not scrub or rub it. If you can, set the tooth back in place – only do this if you’re sure you will not swallow it. If you can’t, or don’t want to put the tooth back in, put it in a cup of saltwater or in a cup of milk. Call our emergency dentist immediately. If you call us as soon as this happens, we may be able to save the tooth!
- Unexplained and/or sudden tooth pain. When you wake up with a toothache, rinse your mouth with warm water and take a pain killer like Ibuprofen. If that doesn’t work or if your gum or tooth is swollen, apply a cold compress to your cheek by the sore tooth. Call our office for an emergency dental appointment. Do not put aspirin or any other kind of painkiller right on the afflicted area.
We certainly hope you will never suffer a dental emergency, but if you do, know that our dentists are here to help get you back to good dental health. To help prevent dental emergencies, schedule regular dental check-ups and examinations with your dentist at Gendler Dental Center.
