Emergency Dental Care
Life doesn’t just happen during normal office hours. People experience illness, dental issues, and more, 24/7. You, of course, already know that. What’s harder to know is when those issues require emergency dental care and when it can wait until the office opens again.
When You Should Seek Emergency Dental Care
Following are the most common scenarios where you might consider emergency dental care (or a trip to the emergency room). We also include selfcare instructions as appropriate.
- Bitten lip or tongue: Clean the area and apply a cold compress to reduce swelling and staunch blood flow. If bleeding continues or is excessive, go to either you dentist or the emergency room.
- Broken jaw: Go to either your dentist or the closest emergency room immediately. Apply a cold compress to manage pain and swelling.
- Broken, cracked, or chipped tooth: Call Dr. Brannon if you break or crack a tooth. Save the chip or broken tooth if possible, wrapping it in a wet towel. Then, rinse your mouth with warm water. Apply a cold compress to manage pain and swelling. Bring the fragment or broken tooth with you to the office.
- Toothache: Call Dr. Brannon as soon as you experience tooth pain.
- Trauma that knocks out or loosens a tooth: Call Dr. Brannon immediately. If the tooth is knocked out, rinse it gently, being careful to not remove any attached tissue (i.e. root and nerve structures). Then, hold the tooth by the crown and try to insert it back into the socket. If you cannot reinsert the tooth, place it under your tongue and go to the dentist.
In all instances, we recommend cold compresses to manage pain rather than pain medication. Even over-the-counter pain medications may cause issues if your doctor needs to administer something stronger.