#1 EMERGENCY DENTIST IN HOUSTON

What can I do during a dental emergency?

The most common dental emergency we encounter is lost or swallowed filling. First, don’t panic about swallowing the filling. As long as you haven’t breathed the filling into your lung, it should safely pass through your system in your stool. If you believe the filling is in your lung, you should contact your doctor’s office for an appointment. A filling in your lung could cause infection. Whether you swallowed the filling or not, you do not need to save it unless it is a gold filling. Be sure and keep the area in your tooth clean by gently brushing and rinsing. You’ll want to keep food out of the filling area and schedule a dental appointment right away.

Also, If the missing filling is causing you pain, you can temporarily fill with the temporary cavity filling mixture in your emergency kit. If you do not have access to Dentemp or similar product, you can use sugar-free gum to fill it. In conclusion, avoid using any gum containing sugar, as that can cause your tooth to become irritated or infected. However, if you’ve lost a crown, you should try and save the crown. After the crown is cleaned and thoroughly disinfected, we may be able to reuse it. Rinse the affected tooth gently and keep it clean. Finally, If it is causing you pain, you may want to use Orajel or another numbing product.

If a tooth has been knocked out of your mouth, you will want to save the tooth. Also if we can treat you quickly enough, we may be able to save the tooth. Leave any tissue on the tooth, but otherwise clean it. In addition, You’ll want to place the tooth in a container of Save-A-Tooth. If you don’t have Save-A-Tooth, you can place the tooth in milk or salt water, however, the tooth will likely die faster. If you’re experiencing a toothache, you’ll want to call our office right away. A toothache is your mouth’s way of telling you that something is wrong. In other words, listen to your mouth! Things which cause toothaches will only get worse if you ignore them.

You can swish warm water around the tooth to relieve pain and apply a cold compress to the outside of your mouth. However, never use a hot compress! You’ll also want to avoid hot or cold beverages as they can make the toothache worse. If pain persists, take a mild, over-the-counter painkiller such as Tylenol or Advil. Avoid taking an aspirin based medicine because it can thin your blood, making you more likely to bleed during a dental procedure.

You may also want to consider putting together a dental first-aid kit. Inexpensive, prepackaged kits are readily available on the internet, or you can put together yourself. Ideally, you should have two kits. You should keep one at home, and one in your car.

Your dental emergency kit should include cotton balls, dental wax, floss, a product such as Orajel which can be used as an oral aesthetic (look for an active ingredient such as lidocaine or benzocaine), Dentemp or a similar temporary cavity filling mixture, and a container of Save-A-Tooth.