In a study published by the American Family Physician, there is approximately 22 percent of people who have suffered oral or dental pain. This statistic only shows how common dental emergencies are. Like any other part of our body, our teeth require proper care. It is crucial to know what type of teeth injuries necessitate emergency dental service to ensure that your family’s oral hygiene is properly maintained.
Accidents happen anytime. Most often, they occur during night time that getting help is really hard. There are several oral injuries that require immediate action. There are also others that can still wait until the normal consulting hours of your dentist. Here are some of the important factors that you should know if you or your family can wait for the dentist’s clinic hours or if you need to go to an emergency dentist immediately.
What is A Dental Emergency?
You need emergency dental services if you have injuries in your mouth, which may include cracked, knocked out, fractured, broken, and extruded tooth. This type of injury most often cuts cheek, gums, or lips. These injuries cause too much pain and should be seen by a dentist immediately. There are other factors that you should take into consideration before seeing a dentist for a dental emergency service.
This includes suffering from an extreme pain that bleeds. If you have a serious infection or an abscess in your mouth, which could possibly be a life-threatening one. Any dental or oral problem that needs immediate action to alleviate extreme pain, stop bleeding, save a tooth, or stop infection requires emergency dental services.
Preparing for an Emergency Dental Service
Since a dental emergency can happen at any time, it is important that you are prepared when it happens. You should always carry with you or have in your home a dental first aid kit. This kit must contain a container with a lid. It should also have the name and the contact number of your dentist. If it is possible that you can put the clinic hours and the address, so much better.
Your emergency dental kit should also include Acetaminophen. Do not pack Ibuprofen or Aspirin. These drugs do not act as the blood thinner. Most often, during dental emergencies, they trigger extreme and unnecessary bleeding. Your kit should also include a handkerchief and gauze.
How to Avoid Dental Emergencies
Prevention is better than cure and the best way to prevent a dental emergency is to be proactive in your oral care and hygiene. Visit your dentist regularly and have a routine check-up. These visits are very important since signs of potential decay, gum disease, loose filling, and even infection are detected. You can also have a personalized treatment plan so that small problems in your oral health can be treated before they develop into a serious one.
Most importantly, listen to your body. It shows signs and tells you that you may be heading to an emergency. A dental emergency happens unexpectedly. It is important that you have an emergency dentist that can take care of your problem before it becomes worse.