How to Handle a Dental Emergency
First of all, the term dental emergency needs to be defined. A dental emergency includes any injury to a tooth that requires immediate attention from a dentist in order to save the tooth or minimize the pain. Such an occurrence to anyone and anytime. No matter how a person takes care of his or her teeth, he or she can be a victim of a dental accident. This is why it is important to teach people how to handle a dental emergency. People usually have a couple of questions when met with such a fate: what are the things needed to be done? Where to go for treatment?
The right emergency response
It is important for people to know how to respond to a dental emergency. It could spell the difference between losing and saving a tooth, between maintaining a beautiful smile and being constantly embarrassed about opening ones mouth. When a person is met by an accident that involves the mouth, he or she can experience a cracked tooth or lose a tooth altogether. You should know that only a trained dentist can fix a cracked tooth or put back a dislodged tooth. Yes, even if a tooth has been knocked out from the socket altogether, it can still be saved and restored. The first thing that you need to keep in mind is not to panic. Do not lose the dislodged tooth. Place it in a container and then add some milk or a saline solution to the container. These are growth media that can help maintain the integrity of the tooth.
How to deal with pain
Another concern that people need to address during a dental emergency is the pain. An ordinary toothache can be already be intolerable. The pain that comes from a dental injury can be much worse. People have different levels of pain tolerance. There are some who can handle pain well and then there are those who simply cannot wait for a dentist to take out the pain. There are things that people can do to minimize the pain and the swelling. One is to rinse their mouth with warm water. To deal with the inflammation, a cold compress can also be applied to the exterior of the affected area. If the pain is really intense, one can resort to taking over-the–counter pain killers. Just be careful not to let medicines such as aspirin or other pain killers to touch the gums to avoid it from being burned since gums can be quite sensitive.
If there is bleeding
If there is bleeding then what a person can do is to rinse the mouth with warm water with salt. This solution can help stop the bleeding and can help prevent infection to set in. One can also put pressure on the affected area using a tea bag or a sterilize gauze. The pressure needs to be applied for around 15 to 20 minutes or until bleeding stops.
Keep in mind that all these measures are not to be used as replacement for professional treatment.