Common Emergencies

Toothache

A toothache is a pain in or around a tooth. The pulp inside your tooth is a soft material filled with nerves, tissues and blood vessels. These pulp nerves are among the most sensitive in your body. When these nerves are irritated or infected by bacteria (abscess), they can cause severe pain.

If you feel a persistent and throbbing toothache and suspect a dental infection, consult with your local dentist.

Home remedies:

• Rinse with warm saltwater
• Rinse with hydrogen peroxide
• Cold compress
• Pain medications

Chipped or broken tooth

A chipped or broken tooth doesn’t just ruin your perfect smile, it can also hurt. Falling, receiving a blow to the face, or biting down on something hard can all cause a tooth to chip or break.

If you feel a persistent toothache, suspect the chipped/broken tooth might cause further issues, or don't like the tooth for cosmetic reasons, reach out to your local dentist.

Home remedies:

• Take acetaminophen or another over-the-counter pain reliever.
• Rinse your mouth with salt water.
• If the break has caused a sharp or jagged edge, cover it with a piece of wax paraffin or sugarless chewing gum to keep it from cutting your tongue or the inside of your lip or cheek.
• Eat soft foods and avoid biting down on your teeth.

Knocked-out tooth

Knocked-out a tooth is a medical emergency. If an adult tooth is knocked out, try putting it back in place and go to a dentist immediately. If the tooth is replaced into the socket within five minutes of being knocked out, it is likely the tooth can survive.

Don't try to re-insert a baby tooth, take your child to a dentist immediately. Act quickly, within 30 minutes, and visit the nearest dentist or endodontist.

Measures to take after a teeth gets knocked out:
• Find the tooth
• Hold it by the crown (the white bit that sticks out of the gum)
• Rinse the tooth clean if it's dirty and put it back into position (adult teeth only); never try to reinsert a baby tooth.
• Bite on a handkerchief to hold the tooth in place

Lost filling or crown

Fillings, which are materials used to fill cavities in the teeth, and crowns, which slip over and cover the tops of damaged teeth, sometimes loosen and fall out. This is rarely an emergency, but it can be painful because the exposed tooth tissue is often sensitive to pressure, air or hot and cold temperatures.

If you feel a persistent toothache, consult with your local dentist.

Home remedies:

• If you can reach the sensitive area, apply a little clove oil with a cotton swab. It works well to dull tooth pain. You can buy clove oil in pharmacies and also in the spice aisle of many supermarkets.
• If you have the crown, you may be able to slip it back over the tooth. Before you do that, it’s important to clean the inside of the crown as best you can. To hold it in place temporarily, coat the inner surface of the crown with tooth “cement,” which you can buy in the dental section of your pharmacy. There are several temporary cements available.
• If you’ve lost the filling or crown, you can use over-the-counter dental cement to cover the tooth surface. This will help to protect and seal the area until you’re able to see your dentist, and can make you more comfortable.

Bleeding and pain after tooth extraction

After extraction, it takes a couple of days or weeks for the healing to be completed. During the first 12-24 hours after surgery, it is normal to have some bleeding from the area. During the healing period, care must be taken to ensure that the extraction area is kept clean to prevent infection.

Home Remedies:

• Take a small piece of gauze and wet it with some water. Next, fold it into a tiny square and place it into the empty socket. Apply pressure on the gauze by biting down on it for 45 minutes to an hour. The method is quite effective and stops bleeding in an hour.
• After extraction or surgery, keep the head higher if you lie down. When the head is higher than your heart, bleeding slows down as the blood pressure reduces. You can easily do it by using a pillow under your head for support while resting or sleeping.
• The black tea leaves contain tannic acid, which is a coagulant. Hence, placing the tea bag over the area of bleeding will speed up the blood clotting. Besides, the teabag must be wet as a dry one is of no use.

Bleeding gums

Gum bleeding is a widespread phenomenon and it may not necessarily be a severe one; a person may observe some blood after brushing their teeth or flossing, which can aggravate sensitive gums.

The most familiar reason a person's gums bleed is because of tartar or plaque upsurge. These substances let microorganisms grow along the gum line. Excellent oral hygiene can put a stop to sensitivity and blood loss.

It may, however, be a sign of a dental disease and you might require deep cleaning. Reach out to us as soon as you can.

Let us look at some of the ways you can stop bleeding in case of an emergency:

• Use ice
• Applying turmeric
• Mouth rinse: Pinch of salt in lukewarm water
• Rinse twice a day to reduce swelling

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