When you experience severe pain or a dental injury, immediate attention is needed to prevent complications. However, not all dental emergencies are urgent. Unlike toothaches, which require urgent dental care because of their severity, a broken or chipped tooth is not necessarily an emergency. But it is still important to see a dentist for a dental check-up, especially if the fracture didn’t expose the inner tooth pulp.

Knowing what scenarios require immediate attention versus those that can wait for your next scheduled appointment will empower you to make better decisions about when to seek care.

Toothache

A toothache can be an indication of a serious dental issue. A toothache that is constant, throbbing, or doesn’t go away is an emergency. It may also mean that a tooth nerve is dying or that there is an abscess. A swelling of the mouth or jaw, a fever, and chills are also signs that you need urgent care.

Tooth pain can range from a mild nuisance to something severe that interferes with sleep and eating. If you have a minor toothache, try rinsing your mouth with warm water or biting on a cold peppermint tea bag to help alleviate the discomfort. If your toothache becomes unbearable, contact us to schedule a visit during office hours. Taking immediate action can prevent the condition from worsening and save your tooth.

Broken or Chipped Tooth

Even minor chips can compromise your smile, make chewing difficult and lead to infection. Bleeding that won’t stop, however, is a sure sign of an urgent dental issue and warrants immediate attention. If you find a loose tooth fragment, rinse it gently in water and try to place it back into its socket (with your finger or a piece of gauze). If possible, put the tooth in milk or saliva and bring it with you to the dentist. He or she may be able to glue it in.

Knocked-Out Tooth

Every year more than 5 million permanent teeth get knocked out due to trauma or accident. This is one of the worst dental emergencies for adult (permanent) teeth and can have severe consequences if not treated promptly.

Fortunately, knocked out teeth have a chance of being saved if they can be put back into their socket within an hour. This is called re-implantation or replanting. Only permanent teeth can be replanted, not baby teeth.

The first step is to find the tooth and handle it carefully, holding it only by its crown (chewing surface) and not touching its root. Try to re-insert it into its socket but do not force it in. If this is impossible, store the tooth in saline or milk and contact your dentist or a dental emergency service right away.

Broken Dentures

Dentures are a fantastic treatment option for those with missing teeth. However, they are not indestructible and will need to be replaced or repaired from time to time. Broken dentures can cause pain and discomfort for patients, and it is important to seek urgent dental care for them.

It is important for denture wearers to resist the temptation to fix their broken teeth with DIY techniques such as super glue. This type of glue releases toxins that are harmful to the gums and mouth. Additionally, it is unlikely that a patient can fix their dentures correctly using this method.

It is also a good idea to avoid biting down on hard foods, which can break or chip the pink acrylic of a denture. If a patient does bite their tongue, cheek or lip and is bleeding, they should apply pressure and use cold compresses until they can see an emergency dentist.

Bitten Tongue or Cheeks

Biting the tongue or cheek often leads to a series of complications, including sores that may require urgent dental care. In some cases, bites or injuries may be minor enough that they heal on their own. Others, however, may need to be treated by a dentist in Lawrenceville. People who accidentally bite their lips, cheeks, or tongue frequently should consider seeking behavioral therapy to address the root cause of this habit.

Sometimes, accidental cheek and lip bites are a result of physical injury to the mouth, such as a deviated tooth or trauma from a sports injury. In other cases, they are a symptom of mental health issues like depression or anxiety. Regardless of the cause, the best thing to do for any bitten tongue or cheek is to rinse out the area and apply cloth-wrapped ice to reduce swelling.