Accidents happen, and unfortunately, tooth injuries are all too common δΈ€ with about 1 billion people having experienced a dental injury at some point. If you’re one of them, don’t postpone dental care.
Urgent care dental services here at Dr. Darj Dental in El Paso, Texas, can help reduce your pain and potentially save your tooth. In this blog, Mehrnoosh Darj, DDS, shares five situations that warrant immediate dental care.
Maybe you hit your tooth on a coffee mug or a bottle or you chipped your tooth playing a sport. There are many ways that you can chip a tooth, but regardless of how it happened, you shouldn’t ignore it.
Not only does a chip or crack hurt, but untreated chips and cracks can lead to other issues. Bacteria can enter the crack and lead to an infection in your tooth, and sharp edges can cut your tongue, cheek, or lip.
An avulsed tooth requires swift treatment. Ideally, you should receive treatment within 30 minutes of the injury to give your tooth the best chance of reattaching.
Before you arrive at our office, rinse off your tooth, but do your best to not touch the roots. You can keep your tooth moist by placing it back in the socket (if possible), stowing it in your cheek, placing it in a cup of milk, or using a tooth-saver kit from a dental first aid kid.
Even if your tooth isn’t knocked out fully, a blow to the face can make a permanent tooth wiggly. Dental splinting can help immobilize traumatized teeth so they don’t wiggle.
Pain is your body’s way of alerting you that something is wrong. Although it’s tempting to power through dental pain, any tooth injury that results in pain should be evaluated. Depending on how you injured your tooth, you may notice swelling, redness, and, if an infection has developed, foul odor and pus.
Some injuries don’t just affect your teeth; they can impact your restorations, too. If any restorations, including crowns or fillings, become loose or damaged, get to the office so Dr. Darj can correct the issue and protect your teeth.
Before you arrive at our office, you may benefit from cold therapy (to reduce swelling), over-the-counter pain relief medication, swishing with salt water, or applying gauze (if your tooth is bleeding), but none of these at-home remedies will fix your injury for good. Dr. Darj can address those symptoms and fix the root cause of the problem.
The first step in treating a tooth injury is to determine the type and extent of your injury. Dr. Darj and her compassionate team can diagnose tooth injuries through an exam and a review of dental X-rays, which can reveal small fractures and other injuries that may be invisible to the naked eye.
Potential treatments include:
When you have a dental emergency that calls for urgent care, call Dr. Darj Dental at 915-213-4097 right away, come into our office, or book an appointment online.
