Dental care is crucial for good overall health, but sometimes accidents occur leading to emergency care and extensive fear. Dental emergencies can occur unexpectedly and require immediate attention to alleviate pain, prevent further damage, and preserve oral health. But what are the most common types of dental emergencies?
Toothache
A simple toothache can occur from stress, a bad diet, medication, and even common habits such as grinding your teeth. In those cases, they’re often easily treated with OTC medication and proper dental hygiene. But severe toothaches are another matter altogether. One of those can be a sign of an underlying issue such as tooth decay, infection, or a dental abscess. Persistent, intense tooth pain should not be ignored, as it can indicate an urgent need for treatment. Over-the-counter pain relievers can be temporarily helpful even with severe toothaches. Still, it’s important to see a dentist as soon as possible to address the root cause of the pain.
Dental Abscess
Like a minor toothache, slight dental abscesses can clear up on their own with proper hygiene–as long as they’re caught in time. But that’s not always the case. Generally, a dental abscess is an infection that forms in the tooth root or the surrounding gum tissue. It can often be painful and when it progresses, it typically results from untreated tooth decay or an untreated dental infection. Symptoms can include severe toothache, swelling, pus formation, headache, and fever. Severe dental abscesses require immediate dental care to drain the infection, eliminate the source of the problem, and prevent its spread to other areas of the mouth and/or body.
Dental Trauma
Life is full of accidents and mishaps. Sports, work, car accidents, and simple outdoor activities can lead to painful trauma. As such, accidents or injuries to the mouth can result in dental trauma. This may include a knocked-out tooth (avulsed tooth), a partially dislodged tooth (extruded tooth), a broken tooth, or a tooth that has been forced out of position (luxated tooth). Immediate dental care is crucial in these cases to increase the chances of saving the affected tooth and treating other potentially loosened teeth or damaged surrounding dental tissue.
Broken or Cracked Teeth
Simple mistakes or habits can lead to damaged teeth as well. Chewing on hard objects, experiencing a facial injury, or biting down on something unexpectedly hard can lead to broken or cracked teeth. The severity of the damage can vary, ranging from minor chips to extensive fractures. Prompt dental attention is necessary to evaluate the extent of the injury and determine the appropriate treatment. Such treatments may involve dental bonding, fillings, crowns, or in severe cases, extraction.
If you experience any of the above dental emergencies, be sure to contact your emergency dentist in Chandler, AZ as soon as possible. In the event of severe bleeding, difficulty breathing, or other life-threatening conditions, it may be necessary to visit the nearest emergency room or call emergency services for immediate assistance. Add us to your contacts just in case and we’ll prioritize your dental emergencies so you can breathe easier.
