Dental emergencies can include cracked, chipped, or even knocked-out teeth. They need immediate attention from a dental professional, but what about the immediate aftermath? What can you do to ease discomfort? In today’s blog, your Prairie Village, KS, dentist talks about easing your initial discomfort!
Common Examples of Emergency Dental Situations
If you sustain an injury or sudden discomfort in and around your smile, you need to see us for dental emergency treatment. If the issue is potentially life threatening, you should call 911 or proceed to the nearest emergency room. Otherwise, contact our team even if the issue occurs outside of normal business hours. We want to see you soon, and will call back with an appointment time so we can examine your smile and treat your dental emergency. But in the meantime, you can take steps to ease discomfort and reduce the risk of worsening pain or injury.
Easing Your Initial Discomfort
To begin, be sure you rinse your mouth with warm water and use a piece of cloth or gauze to control any bleeding that is occurring. With a cold compress or ice pack to the side of your face, you can also address facial swelling. Take an over-the-counter pain reliever too. If any pieces of your tooth can be recovered, bring them with you. If a tooth is knocked out completely, then pick it up by the crown portion, not the root, and place it in a sealed container of milk or salt water, and bring it with you. Also, if a crown or filling is lost, or a prosthetic damaged, bring it with you as well. If an object is caught between your teeth and floss cannot remove it, leave it be until you see us. Using anything other than floss could risk damage to your teeth or gums.
Seeing Our Team
When you arrive, our team will carefully examine your smile to assess the cause and extent of your dental injury. We will then formulate a treatment plan to offer relief, often in only one visit. For minor damage, we could use dental bonding to repair it in one sitting with the same composite resin used in our dental fillings. If you have more substantial injuries, we could discuss placing a custom crown onto the tooth. Our team can also replace compromised restoration or prosthetics too.
If you have any questions about dental emergency care, then contact our team today to learn more.
Make a Visit with Dr. Browne, D.D.S. In Prairie Village!
We are ready to offer treatment to repair injuries and preserve your smile. To find out more about emergency dentistry, call Dr. Browne’s office in Prairie Village, KS at 913-901-8585 today.