What to Do in a Dental Emergency?

Surprisingly, A broken tooth may not be as urgent as people think, while a simple white nodule on the gums could spell real trouble! So what dental conditions need immediate attention from your dentist and what can wait for a while? There’s no hard and fast rule, but by following these general guidelines, you can feel confident in dealing with dental accidents and emergencies.

Pain is the most crucial indicator in whether to treat a dental condition as an emergency or to take care of it over time, during regular office hours. If your child is inconsolable, complaining of or indicating severe pain in the mouth, or unable to sleep or eat properly, we’d recommend calling our office, or after hours line as soon as possible.

With this degree of pain we will try to squeeze you into our schedule same-day, or the next day at the latest, if you call during office hours. If you call after hours, our on-call dentist can talk you through home treatment or come into the office, based on his professional opinion of the situation. Please consider, however, that after-hour emergency treatment is more expensive than treatment during business hours, and may incur an immediate out of pocket expense. 

We recommend over the counter pain relievers like children’s Motrin to help control dental pain until you can get into the office. Make sure to use medications according to the instructions, and/or follow any doctor’s guidelines on use, especially for children. Other home remedies, such as rinsing an effected area with salt water, and/or applying cold or warm compresses can also help, especially with pain due to injury, infection and/or swelling.

On the other hand, if a child feels OK, they are likely fine to hold off on scheduling until convenient for you.

2. Broken teeth

Signs of infection include pain, swelling, heat surrounding the area of infection, or fever. If your child has a white, yellow or clear bump on the gum above a tooth, this could indicate an abscess, a potentially dangerous condition which constitutes a dental emergency!

Sometimes mouth ulcers (canker sores) are confused for abscess. Though they sometimes look similar, you can usually tell an abscess by its raised, rounded, puss filled appearance, while cold sores are usually flat or sunken in open sores.

If you suspect abscess or dental infection, keep the area clean with salt water rinses, use over the counter pain reliever to address any pain or fever, and call our office to schedule as soon as possible. If you suspect an abscess has burst, call our after hours line or come by the office.