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Common Dental Emergencies

Woman Receiving Dental Treatment

Dental emergencies are common and can happen at any time, some occur far away from home, while others can happen right in your own backyard. Being prepared and knowing what to do is the best first step toward a remedy. Trusting in the care you’ll receive from your dental professional during an emergency can be key in providing comfort during such a scary and sudden situation. Choose a qualified and committed dentist to handle your oral health care needs and maintain regularly scheduled dental visits to keep your smile bright. If/when you’re faced with a dental emergency, don’t hesitate to seek help, things are likely to worsen the longer you wait to seek treatment. Some such dental emergencies might include, but certainly aren’t limited to:

Tooth Loss

Tooth loss from sudden, acute trauma requires immediate thoughtful attention. Impact injuries to the face and mouth can displace a tooth/teeth or make it/them come out completely, root and all. Teeth can get knocked out from a door to the face, a slip and fall, or from injuries acquired in sporting events such as baseball, basketball, or hockey.

If your tooth gets knocked out, place it in a cup of milk to keep it moist. If you don’t have a cup of milk, place the tooth into a cup with saliva, and head straight to your dentist’s office. Oftentimes, your trained dental professionals can return the tooth to its socket.

Swelling/Pain

If your tooth becomes painful, even if at first just aching from time to time while eating or drinking, it shouldn’t necessarily be ignored. If it persists, it could develop into constant pain that’s present long after the consumption of food or drink. If swelling happens, continuous pain is present, and/or a small pimple appears on your gums and drains pus, it’s likely you have a tooth infection.

Infections of the oral cavity can become serious quickly as the body compartmentalizes itself to prevent infection from spreading. When there is swelling in the mouth and jaw and it is not treated early, the swelling is likely to persist, worsen, and spread to the neck and other lymph node regions, sometimes becoming life-threatening.

If you suspect a tooth infection, call your dentist’s office right away. An infection left on its own will not go away. Antibiotics alone will not resolve a tooth infection either. The impacted tooth needs to be examined by your dentist as soon as you can be seen.

Broken or Missing Pieces

Teeth can occasionally break, crowns fall off, and false teeth can break, or become loose and unwearable. If any of these things happens to you, preventing you from eating/chewing because of pain or interferes with normal functioning, Call Southshore Dental.

If your tooth breaks and is not causing you any pain, an appointment should be made at your earliest convenience to help avoid further discontinuity.

When bumps and bruises occur, especially along the lip line after a fall, and you suspect your teeth have been hit quite hard, have them evaluated, regardless of pain level.

Conclusion

Dental emergencies happen every day to people in all walks of life, some are preventable, others are not. Accidents can happen at any age. You are never too old or too young to take a tumble onto the pavement face-first, or fall from somewhere elevated. Being prepared and having a plan on who to call and what to do when you encounter a dental emergency is the first step in seeking help.

Whether for routine dental visits or faced with an emergency, going to the dentist shouldn’t be stressful. With nearly five hundred 5-star reviews on Google, patients in or around Trenton, Michigan turn to Southshore Dental for full-service modern dentistry and a smile to be confident in, and you can too. You deserve to be comfortable with your dental team. In an emergency or to start regular routine oral care, schedule your appointment with Southshore Dental today. First-time patients can receive FREE teeth whitening for life. Learn more or get started scheduling your appointment today!

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Southshore Dental delivers quality dental care for your whole family. We work with patients of all ages, with all oral health backgrounds, to help them get healthy, beautiful smiles. Try us out for yourself to see how we can help you feel more confident with your smile. 

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