Emergencies
One of our doctors is always on call to help you through your child’s dental emergency. Scroll down to read some tips on first aid for common dental emergencies.
If your child faces a dental emergency during or after hours, give us a call. However, if you suspect an urgent medical emergency, please dial 911 or take your child to urgent care .
Toothache
Thoroughly clean around the sore tooth. Rinse mouth with warm salt water. If you see trapped food, remove it with dental floss. DO NOT use aspirin. Use a cold compress if face is swollen. Take acetaminophen for pain and contact our office.
Swelling or abscess
Apply cold compresses to the affected area. Oral antibiotics may or may not be needed to treat the infection. Swelling of the face can be a sign of a serious infection that may need immediate attention. Contact our office as soon as possible.
Broken Filling or Loose Crown
Thoroughly clean the affected area. Rinse the mouth with warm water or use dental floss to dislodge impacted food or debris. Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen as needed to control pain. Contact our office.
New adult tooth growing behind baby tooth (SHARK TOOTH)
Do not worry as this is not a dental emergency. It is very common for the permanent tooth to slide past the root of the baby tooth and show up in the mouth. If the baby tooth is wiggly, great! Keep trying to wiggle it out. Apples and toast can help! If not, give our office a call, we are the professionals.
Knocked out BABY tooth
DO NOT reimplant the tooth. The baby tooth should not be reimplanted because of subsequent risk to the developing permanent tooth. Have your child rinse their mouth with water and then firmly apply a cold compress. Bite down on gauze or a cloth to stop any bleeding. Acetaminophen is recommended for pain.
Knocked out ADULT tooth
Find tooth that was knocked out. Handle the tooth by the top of the tooth, NOT the root. DO NOT clean, don’t handle unnecessarily. If you can, reinsert the tooth and hold the tooth in place with gauze or cloth. Can’t reinsert? Transport tooth in milk. Call us IMMEDIATELY!
Toothache
Thoroughly clean around the sore tooth. Rinse mouth with warm salt water. If you see trapped food, remove it with dental floss. DO NOT use aspirin. Use a cold compress if face is swollen. Take acetaminophen for pain and contact our office.
New adult tooth growing behind baby tooth (SHARK TOOTH)
Do not worry as this is not a dental emergency. It is very common for the permanent tooth to slide past the root of the baby tooth and show up in the mouth. If the baby tooth is wiggly, great! Keep trying to wiggle it out. Apples and toast can help! If not, give our office a call, we are the professionals.
Swelling or abscess
Apply cold compresses to the affected area. Oral antibiotics may or may not be needed to treat the infection. Swelling of the face can be a sign of a serious infection that may need immediate attention. Contact our office as soon as possible.
Knocked out baby tooth
DO NOT reimplant the tooth. The baby tooth should not be reimplanted because of subsequent risk to the developing permanent tooth. Have your child rinse their mouth with water and then firmly apply a cold compress. Bite down on gauze or a cloth to stop any bleeding. Acetaminophen is recommended for pain.
Broken Filling or Loose Crown
Thoroughly clean the affected area. Rinse the mouth with warm water or use dental floss to dislodge impacted food or debris. Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen as needed to control pain. Contact our office.
Knocked out adult tooth
Find tooth that was knocked out. Handle the tooth by the top of the tooth, NOT the root. DO NOT clean, don’t handle unnecessarily. If you can, reinsert the tooth and hold the tooth in place with gauze or cloth. Can’t reinsert? Transport tooth in milk. Call us IMMEDIATELY!