Emergency dentists are available to handle a variety of dental emergencies. They are trained to diagnose and treat a number of issues including severe toothaches, broken teeth, knocked out teeth, and dental abscesses.
When you are dealing with a tooth injury, make sure to try to locate the dislodged tooth. It may be able to be saved if you are able to find it and pick it up by the crown and not the root.
Dental Emergencies
Dental emergencies are a type of medical condition that requires immediate treatment. They can include severe tooth pain, broken teeth, knocked out teeth, and dental abscesses. Emergency dentists are trained to handle these types of situations. They often work outside of normal business hours and are available on weekends.
If you have a severe toothache, rinse your mouth with salty water or saline and take over-the-counter painkillers until you can see an Emergency Dentist in Laredo TX. If a wire from your braces has come loose, cover it with a small piece of gauze or cotton and schedule an appointment right away.
If your tooth is knocked out, try to rinse the root of the tooth gently and put it back in its socket (if possible). If you cannot re-insert the tooth, place it in a small container with milk and schedule an appointment as soon as possible. Trying to save a knocked out tooth is very important because it can prevent future problems with your jaw alignment.
Broken Teeth
Teeth are some of the strongest and hardest-wearing parts of the body, but their strength has limits. Falling, receiving a blow to the face or biting down on something hard can cause a break in one or more of your teeth. Some breaks are more serious than others, and the damage they do varies from tooth to tooth.
If you have a broken tooth, it is important to see your dentist as soon as possible. If you wait to get it fixed, it can be damaged even further and put your other teeth at risk of damage.
A tooth fracture is a crack that affects some or all of your teeth’s layers. The enamel is the hard outer shell, dentin is the middle layer and pulp contains blood vessels and nerves. While some fractures may not hurt, others can be painful or sensitive and lead to infection. Tooth fractures can happen for a variety of reasons, including age, habits like gum chewing or ice eating, and large dental fillings that weaken the tooth.
Knocked Out Teeth
Knocked out teeth are a dental trauma that can be life-threatening. The good news is that if the tooth can be reinserted within 30 minutes, it can have a very high survival rate. However, the bad news is that a knocked out tooth can cause permanent damage to nerves and blood vessels.
If a person has a permanent tooth that is knocked out, call an Emergency Dentist in Laredo TX right away. If the tooth is a child’s permanent tooth, do not put it back in the socket as this could cause injury to the developing adult tooth beneath it.
Instead, pick up the tooth by the crown (chewing surface) and not the root. Try to keep the tooth moist, either by placing it in milk or in the person’s saliva. Then, keep the tooth wrapped in aluminum foil or in an over-the-counter product that preserves a tooth until you can get to your dentist. If possible, have someone call ahead to the dentist to let them know that a knocked out tooth has been found.
Infected Gums
Swollen or puffy gums are signs of gum disease, which is a dangerous infection of the gum tissue and bone that supports your teeth. Gum disease is most often caused by plaque, a sticky, colorless film of bacteria that forms on teeth and gums. When you brush and floss regularly, this plaque is usually removed. But if you don’t brush or floss as much as you should, plaque can build up and cause gum disease. Gum infections can lead to a painful, pus-filled abscess that requires prompt treatment.
You can treat gum infections with daily brushing and flossing, salt water rinses and antibacterial mouthwash. If the problem is more advanced, a dentist may recommend scaling and root planing to deep clean between gums and teeth all the way to the roots of your teeth, or a gingivectomy (removal of infected gum tissue). Antibiotics can also help kill bacteria that cause gum infection. They can be taken in pill form or used in gel inserts placed into infected pockets.