Dental emergencies happen when you least expect them. They are very unpleasant and, in some cases, they can be incapacitating. We need our teeth for two essential daily activities: eating and speaking. Therefore, when something bad happens to them we have no option other than to stop everything we’re doing and look for emergency dental treatment in Prince Albert. In this article, you will learn about dental emergencies and how you should handle them.
Keep calm
The first thing to do when facing a dental emergency is to remain calm. Take a deep breath and assess the situation. You should determine how severe your dental emergency is, and if it requires the immediate attention of a dentist near you. For example, it is not the same to have a knocked-out tooth as it is to have a loose bracket. While someone with a knocked-out tooth should visit the dental clinic as quickly as possible, a person with a loose bracket can wait for a couple of hours, or call their orthodontist to ask when they should have it fixed.
A chipped tooth
This is a fairly common dental emergency in Prince Albert. In fact, all dental emergencies happen much more frequently than people think. A chipped tooth is a type of dental injury that can compromise the vitality of the tooth. It mostly occurs when people bite on very hard foods that end up fracturing their teeth, or from direct trauma to the tooth while practicing contact sports.
If you have a chipped tooth, there is not much to do before seeking emergency dental treatment near you. Rinse your mouth with warm water to eliminate all the pieces, and bite on a moist gauze pad if you are experiencing some bleeding. Once you reach your dental clinic, your dentist may use some filling to correct your tooth. However, in some cases, if the tooth is very damaged and the nerve is exposed, a root canal may be needed.
Knocked out tooth
This is probably the most unpleasant out of all the dental emergencies, and it requires you to act fast. What you do in the first hour after your tooth falls out can significantly affect the outcome. During this time, you should focus on preserving the vitality of the tooth. There are two ways to do so. The most effective one is to pick the tooth up by the crown, while avoiding touching the roots at all cost, and reinserting it into the empty socket. Afterward, place a moist gauze on top of the tooth and gently bite on it to control any bleeding while you make your way to the dental clinic for professional assistance.
Some people find the process of reinserting the tooth into the empty socket too gruesome and can’t do it. If this is your case, then you can store the tooth in a container with warm milk, since it can keep it moist and preserve the vitality for a little while until you reach your dentist. If the tooth can’t be preserved, your dentist may recommend acquiring a dental implant.
A toothache
Tooth pain can be very uncomfortable. Many conditions can cause a toothache, and some of them require immediate attention. At first, you could try to relieve the pain with some over-the-counter pain medication like acetaminophen. However, if you don’t find relief after taking it, it could be a sign that there is a severe underlying cause of that pain, such as a tooth abscess. If you also have some swelling and fever, visit a dental office since the only wait to relieve the pain is to drain the abscess.