Throbbing toothaches, broken teeth and split-open lips are types of dental emergencies that can happen any time of day or night. It’s important to know what types of injuries represent a dental emergency and which ones can wait until an appointment can be made.
Common Mouth Injuries
The most typical mouth injuries that we see at the practice include knocked-out, broken or cracked teeth. You don’t have to play a contact sport or fall to break a tooth. Even something as seemingly harmless as biting into a hard food can result in a chipped tooth.
Here are some emergencies we’ve seen at Hallmark Smiles Dental Care:
- A cosmetic emergency such as a broken or chipped front tooth
- A broken tooth that was patched up in the past
- Fractured teeth that contain large metal fillings
- A toothache due to an infection
Addressing a Lip Laceration
One of our patients had a lip that was completed lacerated. We sutured the lip and made sure the patient was feeling fine that day. Because we want to ensure that the patient was okay, we checked that individual a week later, a month later and six months later.
Can It Wait?
Whether or not you have a dental emergency can depend on factors such as which tooth was injured and the severity of the injury. A chipped tooth or one with a small fracture would not be considered emergencies. These concerns can wait until our office is open for regular hours. However, if the tooth is broken in half, completely knocked out or you’re in extreme pain it’s vital that you seek medical attention right away.
Emergency Home Care
We always will try to accommodate you as soon as possible if you have a dental emergency during our office hours. Until we can see you, however, here are some common dental emergencies and how to handle them.
Lost or broken tooth
If your tooth is broken or out of its socket completely, try to put it carefully back in the socket. When handling the tooth, be sure not to touch the root. If placing the tooth isn’t possible, put the tooth in milk and bring it to our practice as soon as you can. Ideally, you should get to us within 30 minutes, so there’s a greater chance of the tooth being saved.
A toothache
A toothache can result from a cavity, impacted tooth, infection or injury. Until you can get into our practice, Dr. Larashi recommends taking an anti-inflammatory pain medication.
Bitten lip or tongue
Carefully clean the area that’s been bitten using water. Next, place a cold compress on it to bring relief. If you experience heavy bleeding please seek emergency medical attention as soon as possible.
Contact Us As Soon As Possible
If you believe you have a dental emergency, please call (810) 732-8020 during our office hours. We will do our best to see you as soon as possible. Dr. Antonela Larashi will evaluate your emergency and provide the best care to get you out of pain as fast as we can.
If Dr. Larashi feels that the emergency is more involved she will direct you to the right specialist, whether it’s an oral surgeon or the nearest ER. If you are a patient of record and call after hours, please listen carefully for our voicemail instructions.