Emergency Dental Care

Let’s face it: accidents will likely happen in your life that may require emergency dental care. Any time there is an injury to teeth, jaws, or mouth, you need to call our office as soon as possible. Failing to do so may increase the possibility of permanent damage later and end up requiring extensive and even expensive treatment.

Some things that might be considered a dental emergency include:

• Broken tooth
• Abscessed tooth
• Knocked out tooth
• Loss of dental crown or filling

Following are a few simple steps that you can take to minimize pain and assist Dr. Mattison in emergency care situations:

• Broken, cracked or chipped tooth
  • Apply cold compress to the area affected.
  • Rinse your mouth gently with warm water.
  • If the tooth fragment is available, wrap it in wet gauze or towel and bring it to our office with you.
• Abscessed tooth
  • An abscess is an infection in your tooth that has spread to the root tip or around the root. Wisdom teeth are especially prone because they are difficult to reach and may develop undetected decay. Any of your teeth that are difficult to brush often become abscessed as well.
  • If you think you may have an abscessed tooth, call us right away for treatment, as the infection can spread if untreated.

• Knocked out tooth
  • Handle tooth carefully; damage may prevent re-implantation (permanent teeth that are re-implanted within thirty minutes have the greatest chance of success).
  • Gently rinse your tooth in lukewarm water no longer than 10 seconds and only if there is dirt or foreign matter present.
  • Reinsert permanent tooth if possible and bite on a gauze pad to hold it in place.
  • If you cannot reinsert or if it is a primary tooth or you only have fragments, place in whole milk to prevent drying.
  • Use sterile gauze to control any bleeding.
  • Apply cool compress for pain or swelling. If it is your child, you might encourage them to suck on a frozen pop.
  • Contact us as soon as possible for expedient emergency care.
• Loss of dental crown or filling
  • Loss of your crown or filling does not always require emergency dental care, but can be painful because of exposed tissue being sensitive to temperature or air.
  • Put it in a safe place and call us for an appointment as soon as possible, but do not wait too long.

If you experience any of these problems, or have a question as to whether something requires emergency treatment, call us as soon as you can. If it is determined that you require emergency care, we will schedule an appointment as soon as possible.