Dental Emergencies

Spring, summer and fall are the times of year people spend the most time outdoors being active. It is fun to participate in sports, biking, hiking and water activities. We recommend people to explore the great outdoors and participate in those activities – but we also want you to be safe in order to avoid dental emergencies. The old adage, “Accidents happen” is true. Here are a few dental emergency scenarios, and our guidelines on how to handle each one.

Laceration

Laceration is a tear in the skin and mucosa caused by trauma. Lacerations are commonly seen in kids between the ages of 2-6 years old. When kids are playing, they bump into other kids, trip and fall, etc., sometimes resulting in a playtime accident. In instances of oral laceration, bleeding occurs profusely from lower lip because of the trauma from the sharp upper teeth.

Teeth might become mobile because of the trauma. No broken teeth, abnormal tooth mobility, or small laceration will heal satisfactorily without any intervention.

Steps to be taken:

1. Stay calm and rinse the area with clean water.
2. If bleeding profusely, apply pressure with a finger or clean wet cloth. Apply pressure for a few minutes before removing pressure, and check the area to examine the extent of injury.
3. If the wound is large or you notice that there are broken teeth, the area might need sutures and some radiograph evaluation to rule out fracture.
4. Call the dentists at Oak Tree Dental, and we will be glad to help you through any dental emergency.

Knocked-out Tooth

Teeth can completely come out of the socket because of trauma. The key thing to remember in case of a knocked-out tooth is to keep the tooth wet at all times.

1. Stay calm and rinse the area with cold water.
2. Rinse the tooth gently to remove debris. Do not scrub the tooth.
3. You can try placing the tooth back in the socket.
4. If placing the tooth back in the socket is impossible, immerse the tooth in cold milk.
5. Call your dentist or Oak Tree Dental as soon as possible to facilitate placing the tooth in the socket and properly stabilizing the tooth if needed.

The longer the tooth stays out of the socket, the poorer the prognosis is for the tooth. Note that if a baby tooth is knocked out, do not try to place it back in the socket. Call us at (703) 442-8733 for evaluation and treatment.

Cracked Tooth or Broken Tooth

A tooth is cracked or broken when it is not completely out of the socket, but is fractured and painful to use during biting and chewing.

1. If you can remove the loose pieces, keep them safely gathered together.
2. Leave the area alone and call the dentist.
3. Apply cold compression to reduce the swelling while you wait to be seen.

A dentist should evaluate the tooth and determine its prognosis. We can do a root canal if there is pulp exposure, including a build-up and crown as needed. If the fracture does not involve the pulp, we can place tooth colored composite filling and restore the esthetics. Sometimes dentists may recommend capping the tooth with a porcelain crown to achieve full esthetics, depending on the condition of the tooth.

Broken Jaw

1. Do not try to open the mouth.
2. Apply a cold compress like an ice pack, until you get to a dentist or emergency doctor.

Tongue trauma caused by Biting

1. Clean the area and apply some pressure to control bleeding.
2. Applying cold compression will help in preventing swelling.

How can we prevent injuries?

Be careful while you are out having fun! Remember that fabricated mouth guards can be very beneficial for people involved in contact sports. Call us in case of an emergency, or if you have any further questions. The dentists at Oak Tree Dental will be happy to see you for a professional consultation and get you relief fast.