Emergency Dentistry

What is a dental emergency?

Dental emergencies include any injury to your teeth or mouth that requires immediate attention from your dentist. Some of the most common dental emergencies include knocked out or broken teeth and acute oral infections. Dental emergencies can arise from a number of sources, like biting down too hard into food, an accident or fall, or a collision during a contact sport. If you’re experiencing a dental emergency, call ahead to let the staff at CaliDental know you’re on your way.

What do I do if I break or lose a tooth?

Breaking or losing a tooth is one of the most common dental emergencies, and it can be a painful and frightening experience. Luckily, modern dentistry can help save fractured or missing teeth, as long as you take immediate action when your injury occurs.

Fractured or broken teeth are often caused by trauma to the face or mouth. If you feel a tooth break, loosen, or shift out of place, look at your teeth in a mirror to assess the damage. If your tooth or teeth are just slightly chipped, this may not qualify as a dental emergency, and you can schedule a regular appointment with CaliDental to explore your options in patching these small cracks, usually with dental bonding or a crown, depending on the extent of the damage.

If your tooth has a severe crack, if it’s missing a large piece, or if it’s completely knocked out, you’ll require immediate attention to save the tooth. Collect the tooth or any fragments of tooth, and try to handle them as little as possible. If you must handle a tooth that’s been knocked out, grasp it by the crown, or top of the tooth, never by the root.

Once you have your tooth, try to place it back into your mouth by positioning it in the socket and gently biting down on it. If you’re not able to replace the tooth this way, keep it in a container of milk or saliva, and then bite down on some gauze or a wet tea bag to stop the bleeding. Try to get to CaliDental as quickly as possible: The odds of saving your tooth are best if you can arrive at the office within one hour of your injury.

What do I do if I have an oral infection?

If you experience acute or worsening toothaches, or swelling around your jaw, gums, or the roof of your mouth, you may have an oral infection. Not all oral infections are dental emergencies, and most oral infections are only serious if they’ve been allowed to progress to an advanced stage. Regular checkups with your dentist at CaliDental are a great way to avoid oral infections.

An infection qualifies as an emergency when the pain becomes unbearable, or when the infection and swelling make it difficult to eat or swallow. If you’re experiencing pain or swelling along the roof of your mouth or under your tongue, you may have an infection called Ludwig’s angina or an abscess. These infections can be treated with antibiotics, or dental surgery if necessary, so call CaliDental immediately to make an appointment if you’re experiencing these symptoms.