Dental emergencies may include toothaches, cracked or chipped teeth, abscesses, losing a filling, etc. These emergencies need to be treated right away. An urgent dental issue can be painful and scary, and infections in your mouth can be life-threatening if not treated in time.  Delaying dental emergency treatment can make the problem worse and cause irreversible damage to your oral health. To help you minimize the pain and prevent irreparable harm, here is what you should do during a dental emergency:

  • Call your dentist: Make an appointment with your dentist immediately, let them know you need urgent care. If your dentist doesn’t offer emergency dentistry, search for other dentists who see emergency cases right away. Dr. Salim Kapadia Dental Centre in the heart of Scarborough, on Markham Road, provides same-day dental emergency services. If you can’t talk due to your condition, have someone to make an appointment for you. Inform your dentist with as much information as possible regarding your overall health, medications, recent habit changes, etc. Your dentist will let you know what to do before your appointment. Make sure to take notes. 
  • Determine the nature of your emergency: You may not be able to reach your dentist immediately. In that case, act based on the nature of your dental emergency. 
    • Throbbing pain and swelling: This could be an infection. It needs to be treated immediately. If you can’t reach an emergency dentist, contact your family doctor, get to an urgent care clinic, or visit the ER department of your nearest hospital. Oral infections not treated immediately may have serious outcomes such as sepsis, septic shock, and loss of the tooth.
    • Knocked-out tooth: Avoid touching the root of the tooth, put it back in the socket if possible – it still may be able to be saved. If that is not possible, hold the tooth inside your cheek until you get to a dentist or ER. Try to keep it moist. You may be able to get a tooth preserving kit at your nearest pharmacy. If you can’t get any, put your tooth in saline or milk. Immediate treatment may help the tooth’s root to reconnect.
    • Sudden toothache or abscess: Something may be stuck in your gums. Carefully floss that area, rinse and swish warm salt water in your mouth. Hopefully, it’s just a food particle and is easily removed. If it’s a sharp pain, it may be an infection or advanced tooth decay. You may need a root canal, extraction or implant to fix the tooth.
    • Cracked or chipped tooth: Rinse your mouth with warm water and make sure you don’t swallow a piece of the tooth or cut inside of your mouth with a broken piece. A clean cloth can help you prevent cutting your tongue from the sharp edges of the tooth. Collect as many pieces of the tooth as possible to bring them to your dentist.
  • Don’t wait: In the event of any dental emergency, don’t wait for it to get better on its own. You may lose your tooth and make the infection worse. At Dr. Salim Kapadia Dental Centre in Scarborough, Ontario, emergencies are seen right away. Our experienced dentist can help you save your teeth, whatever your case is. 

If you have a dental emergency, call 416-321-3268 right away or book an appointment online to see the dentist right away.

Published On: 13 October 2020Categories: Emergency Dentistry

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