Every day, millions of Americans experience some level of oral pain. Any pain in the mouth should be evaluated by a dentist because your smile is too important to risk.
In some cases, however, the severity of an oral health ailment can escalate to the point where it requires emergency care. Staying calm and knowing what to do in these tense and sometimes quite painful moments go a long way toward ensuring proper treatment, minimal pain, and a speedy return to optimal oral health!
What Are the Most Common Dental Emergencies?
To quickly and decisively address a dental emergency, it’s helpful to know what a dental emergency actually is. The best way to do this is by recognizing symptoms as they arise. To give you a hand, we put together a handy list of common dental emergencies:
- Severe and persistent toothache
- Swelling of the gums or the jawbone
- Bleeding from the mouth or gums for no apparent reason
- A dental abscess (collection of pus in the gum surrounding a tooth)
- Broken dental crown(s)
- Loss of a permanent tooth as a result of trauma or decay
Common Treatments for Dental Emergencies
Dental emergencies can be unnerving. Staying calm and acting mindfully and decisively in a dental emergency significantly increases the chances of immediate pain relief and effective long-term restoration.
- For toothaches, an emergency dental filling is usually the answer.
- In cases of cracked or broken teeth, severity matters. Minor cracks can usually be treated via non-invasive dental bonding. More severe breaks may require a crown or root canal.
- If a permanent tooth is knocked out, seek out a dentist immediately! By immediately recovering and cleaning the lost tooth and submerging it in milk, you can give your dentist a chance to save your natural tooth. Otherwise, the dentist will prepare the site of the lost tooth for a root canal or implant placement.
- If a dental crown breaks or falls out, it must be repaired or replaced by a dentist as quickly as possible.
A Committed and Compassionate Emergency Dentist in Apex, NC
If you’re in the Apex area and think you require emergency dental care or simply want to ensure that you and your family are prepared “just in case,” contact dentist Dr. Cassidy Bray and the team at Deep River Family and Cosmetic Dentistry to ensure the top-quality care you need when you need it most!