According to the latest available data, there were 55.4 million injuries that occurred in the US in 2020. One in six of those injuries was severe enough to require medical help.
Dental trauma, in turn, is among the most common injuries that often warrant emergency aid. It usually results from accidents that lead to the mouth taking a severe blow, such as falls or car crashes.
So, if you’ve hurt yourself, especially your face or mouth, you may already have some form of dental trauma. Below we’ve listed the common signs and symptoms you need an emergency dentist, so be sure to read on.
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You Displaced a Tooth
Physical dental trauma can displace a tooth, making it sink deeper into the socket. The force or pressure can also push it sideward or backward. However, the affected tooth may also hang loosely out of its socket.
A displaced tooth can cause discomfort since it can keep pushing the gums or the adjacent tooth. You might even feel pain whenever it gets stimulated, such as when you eat or speak. Food can also make its way into the gaps caused by the avulsion, causing more discomfort.
Food debris that gets stuck in injured gums can also trigger inflammation. That’s because it’s not part of the soft tissues, so the gums treat it as a foreign object. As a result, your immune system can go on overdrive, trying to expel it out of your mouth.
Emergency dentistry services may still save your tooth, securing it back in its place. However, it’s best to undergo treatment ASAP, as delaying it might result in the need for an extraction.
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You Broke or Chipped a Tooth
When you take a blow to the head or face, you may react by closing your mouth tight and with extreme force. Unfortunately, that pressure may be enough to make one or more of your teeth break, chip, or, at the very least, crack.
Even if it’s only the latter, the affected teeth may still separate or develop a fissure. You’ll know there’s a crack if you feel something like a splinter while running your tongue on your teeth. You may also feel something like a valley on your tooth, a sign that it cracked and might be on the verge of separating.
If you notice any of those symptoms, please head to the nearest emergency dentist ASAP. Be sure to bring the part that broke or chipped off if you can still find it. You can submerge it in a container filled with milk to help preserve it.
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You Knocked Out an Entire Tooth
Also called an avulsed tooth, a knocked-out tooth is one that got ripped off in its entirety. It’s not only a part that broke off; the whole tooth fell out of its socket. In that case, you might see the tooth from its crown to its roots.
If that’s what happened to one or more of your teeth, pick them up by their crown using a clean cloth. That’s the top-most area, the part that you used to brush and floss.
Please don’t touch the roots, the lowest sections of the tooth that look like horns. Otherwise, you may compromise the tooth.
As with a broken or chipped tooth, you can drop an avulsed tooth in a container with milk. Then, visit the nearest emergency dental clinic, if you can, within 30 minutes from when it fell out. According to experts, this gives dentists the highest chances of saving it.
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Severe Gum Bleeding and Swelling
A blow to the mouth may not be enough to knock your teeth out, but it can have enough force to make the teeth cut into your gums. As a result, the soft tissues may bleed non-stop, become inflamed, or both.
Extreme gum swelling can cause your face to swell, too, giving your face a puffy appearance. Worse, the cut that resulted in the inflammation may also cause pain and gum infections. After all, the mouth is home to over 700 bacterial species, many of which are harmful.
Even if the bleeding subsides, something is wrong as long as your gums still swell. For example, a tiny part of the tooth may have lodged itself into the tissues.
An emergency dentist can take that out and see if you need stitches. You may also have to take prescription medications to fight infections and ease the pain.
On the other hand, leaving gum infections untreated can allow the bacteria to spread. The germs can then damage more tissues, resulting in the need for tooth extraction.
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You Broke a Crown or Denture
Sometimes, non-traumatic incidents that don’t cause discomfort can still require immediate dental treatment. According to this emergency dentist, a broken crown is one example.
It’s vital to see a dentist immediately in such cases, as a broken crown can injure the surrounding gums. That can result in bleeding and swelling, putting you at risk of infections.
In addition, a damaged dental crown exposes the tooth underneath. Remember: this tooth required shaving before, so it’s not as sturdy as before it had a crown. So, if it gets exposed, bacteria may attack it and make their way inside, down to the roots.
If you give them enough time, the germs can damage even the tooth’s supporting structures. That includes the tooth roots, the tiny bones that anchor the tooth to the jaw, and even the jaw.
If that happens, you need to have the decayed tooth removed ASAP. You might even have to undergo potential bone grafts to replace the lost jaw bone.
So before any of that happens, call an emergency dentist or visit one as soon as possible.
Visit an Emergency Dentist ASAP
As you can see, there are many signs you need an emergency dentist, from cracking a tooth to getting one knocked out. So, if you experience any of the symptoms above, don’t delay going to an emergency dentistry clinic. The sooner the dentist can see what’s wrong, the higher their chances of saving your pearly whites and if you are looking for wisdom teeth removal Las Vegas is an option you should consider.” at the location in the screenshot below
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