How to Handle a Dental Emergency

Do you think you’re experiencing a dental emergency? You can usually tell if you’re experiencing sharp pain, have a tooth that’s loose or falls out, or a restoration gets damaged. While it’s easy to want to panic, you simply have to talk to your emergency dentist in Claremont, CA. Dr. Vijay Patel of Claremont Dental Institute shares the types of dental emergencies and what to do if you experience them.claremont, california emergency dentist

What to Do During a Dental Emergency

If you have shooting pain in your mouth, get a tooth knocked out, or have broken one of your dental restorations, it’s important to get help quickly. These aren’t things you want to wait to have fixed.

The first thing you should do is call our office immediately. Dr. Patel is a Claremont, CA emergency dentist. This means that our staff can help talk you through what to do, as well as get you into the office as immediately as possible. Listen to our staff members and follow their instructions specifically. It may mean the difference between saving your tooth or losing it completely.

Types of Dental Emergencies

A dental emergency can mean many things. However, these are the most common types that we see patients come in with:

Tooth or Jaw Pain

Pain is almost always a big warning sign that something isn’t right. When you get a sharp pain in your tooth or jaw, it’s usually due to tooth decay or an infection in the root canal. It can also be caused by an abscess in the tooth. Regardless of the cause, it’s something that needs to be diagnosed and treated by your dentist.

When you call our office, our staff will get you into the office as quickly as possible to diagnose the issue. In the meantime, try to reduce the pain. Taking over the counter painkillers or using an ice pack wrapped in a clean cloth on the area can help until you can get into the office. Avoid eating foods that are harder to chew to eliminate aggravating the area further.

Lost or Broken Tooth

If your tooth gets knocked out or broken by a sports mishap or other issue, the biggest thing to do is avoid panicking. Find a clean, damp cloth to put pressure on the area where the tooth was to stop the bleeding.

If you can find the tooth, it’s important that you only pick it up by the top part, the crown. Don’t touch any of the root structure or area below the crown. However, do try to keep as much of the root structure intact as possible. Place the tooth in a cup of milk or your own saliva. The tooth can possibly be saved if you can get into our office within a few hours. Call us as soon as possible to see if this is doable.

Broken Restoration

A broken filling, crown, or other restoration can be a bigger problem than you may think. These are usually covering vulnerable areas of your tooth. This means that without that restoration, the tooth is susceptible to infection. It’s essential that you call our office immediately and don’t hesitate, even if you think it’s not a huge deal.

If you have the restoration, bring it with you to the dentist. They can either reattach it or craft a new restoration based on the old one. Never attempt to reattach the restoration by yourself. You can cause a lot more harm than good.

Your Emergency Dentist in Claremont, California

At Claremont Dental Institute, we’ll handle your emergency quickly and with the utmost care. If you’re having a dental emergency, call us immediately or schedule an appointment online for a normal procedure!