Dental emergencies can happen to anyone at any time, no matter how diligent you are about oral healthcare. If you’re experiencing a dental emergency, call our office at 903-437-8048 for the soonest care possible. Emergency dentistry is a general dental service that can help eliminate further complications in the future.
Do I Have a Dental Emergency?
A dental emergency is anything that needs to be seen right away. This can include a broken tooth, tooth pain, or a broken dental restoration. It’s always better to be safe and call us with a dental concern than to ignore something that gets more severe and requires more extensive treatment. However, if you damage the soft tissue or have facial bleeding, call 9-1-1 or go to the emergency room.
Tooth Pain
Tooth pain has so many different types and causes. It may be sharp, throbbing, sudden, gradual, aching, or a combination. No matter what yours feels like, it’s a sign that something’s wrong. You should never ignore or try to brush off tooth pain. Tooth decay is a common cause, as the infection burrows deeper into your tooth, impacting dental nerves. A broken filling can also cause pain, exposing sensitive interior tissue.
Another common cause is an infection in the bone or tooth socket. An abscess occurs when a pocket of pus forms in an area near your tooth, which can be the source of your pain. We usually need to drain the abscess and evaluate the state of the tooth to see if we can avoid extraction.
Knocked-Out Tooth
Especially as an adult, losing a tooth can be scary. And it certainly counts as a dental emergency. If you handle the situation properly and get us the knocked-out tooth in enough time, the tooth will be viable for replacement back in your mouth. If your tooth gets knocked out, do your best to stay calm. Look for the tooth and pick it up if possible. Gently rinse off any dirt or debris that might have gotten on it.
Then, put the tooth in a cup of milk or saliva. This preserves the tooth longer so you can make it to our office. We’ll evaluate the tooth and determine if we can put it back in your mouth. If not, we offer multiple different options for tooth replacement. Specifically, a single dental implant is the gold standard to replace a missing tooth.
Broken Tooth
Some breaks aren’t an emergency. For example, a small cosmetic chip you may not even notice can happen. Other times, a large portion of your tooth may break off. This is painful, exposing dental nerves that are extremely sensitive when they come into contact with anything. Depending on how the tooth breaks, it can leave sharp edges that can injure the soft tissues of your cheeks and gums.
If you can, bring in the piece or pieces of the tooth that broke off so we can observe. Usually, we recommend something like dental bonding that we can mold to fill in the space of the tooth that broke off, protecting the interior and soft tissue.
Broken Dental Restoration
Dental restorations are crucial to the function and look of your smile. It’s important to replace them as soon as possible if they break or fall out. A dental restoration can include bridges, dentures, fillings, or crowns. Never try to glue together a restoration yourself. You also should never try to put the crown back on your own tooth. Collect the pieces of the restoration and bring them to our office. We decide whether we can repair the restoration or need to replace it.
Contact Marshall Family Dental.
If you think you have a dental emergency, call our office immediately. For other appointments, call our office or contact us online.