With the holidays looming, dental emergencies are quite common. Whether you have a tooth fall out while eating grandma’s peanut brittle or have a painful cavity come on from all that sugar, pain is our body’s way of telling us that something isn’t right. It’s important to manage dental injuries quickly and efficiently. Here are some common dental emergencies, and ways to address them before you get to the office:
Tooth Fell Out
Attempt to retrieve the tooth. Hold your tooth by the crown and rinse off the roots under warm water. Do not use soap. If possible, try to work the tooth back into it’s socket. If pain prohibits this, store the tooth in a small container of cold milk and bring it with you to the office. Apply gauze to stop the bleeding. Teeth replaced within an hour of being dislodged enjoy the highest survival rate.
Crown Fell Out
Retrieve the crown. Call us at Kristen Ritzau DDS (949) 498-4110! Should pain present, you may have an exposed nerve. Coat the surface of the tooth with benzocaine. You can also use clove oil as it contains numbing properties.
Filling Fell Out
If possible, retrieve the filling, even if it’s in pieces. Unless you’ve had a root canal on the tooth, pain management can be quite tricky. The key is to prevent oxygen from agitating the nerve endings. Tear off a small portion of a cotton ball, soak it with benzocaine and pack it into the filling. This should give you some relief.
The team at Kristen Ritzau DDS is here to help you should a dental emergency arise over the holidays, give us a call at (949) 498-4110.
