What To Do When Dental Emergencies Strike!

"It happens all too often- a dental emergency in the middle of the night or while on vacation or travel. Severe pain, swelling and inconvenience all wrapped into one. What to do next?"

The best advice is prevention and that means keeping current with your dental visits to make sure there aren't hidden problems ( decay/abscesses/cracked fillings or teeth) that can arise at the most inopportune moments such as a special vacation or a critical business meeting. However, even healthy teeth can do some fairly unexpected things.

Here's some sound advice when dental emergencies impact your life:

Knocked Out Tooth From Trauma: The most important thing to remember is to quickly find the tooth and keep it moist. Place the tooth in a small container of milk or in the mouth( careful not to swallow it!). Contact our office ( or nearest dentist when traveling) to have the tooth re implanted and stabilized. The longer you wait to do this- the greater the chance that you will lose the tooth. If you play sports- you can avoid this problem by wearing an appropriate mouth guard. Our office can custom make one for your specific needs. Children who lose baby teeth rarely need to re implant them. Call the office if you have any questions-

Broken Tooth/ Lost Filling: Travel with or have on hand temporary filling material that you can purchase at most pharmacies. Place the material on the affected tooth and schedule
an immediate visit with our office or the nearest dental office if you are away. Sharp edges that scrape the tongue need immediate attention and should not wait. Dental wax can be used to cover the exposed areas. Pain can usually be managed with over the counter medications such as aspirin or ibuprofen.

Pain From Abscessed Teeth/Fractured Teeth: Abscesses are caused when the nerve of a tooth dies due to trauma or under a crown or filling. Typically over the counter medications
have very little effect on the pain and you will most likely need an antibiotic (such as amoxicillin) and a narcotic (codeine) to bring this under control until care can be given. If traveling internationally, I suggest purchasing these medications in advance to have available if you are in a region that doesn't have good or adequate health care facilities. Hospital emergency rooms can provide this basic care until a dental visit is arranged.

Gum Pain/ Canker Sores: If food becomes trapped between the teeth - it can cause gum pain and sometimes swelling. Try to floss the area clean and take aspirin/ ibuprofen for the
pain until you can see our office or a dental office when out of the area. Canker Sores ( apthous ulcers) can be temporarily treated with over the counter medications at drug stores until
you can be seen for definitive diagnosis and a prescription medication given.

You can visit our website for more information including animated videos:www.AmericanDental-Va.com

As always, where ever you are- you can email us for advice to help you in the event that a dental emergency arises: info@americandental-va.com.

Prepare now to have a safe and pain free 2011!

Dr. Steve Pleickhardt