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Emergency dental for your child or yourself – Dental First Aid at Home

emergency dental for your child, emergency dentists vancouverSo what should you be doing to deal with your tooth trouble until you can get emergency dental for your child or yourself? We’ve outlined a few procedures to follow for dental emergencies below:

What should I do if I lose a filling?

Pain is the issue here. If you’re not in any pain, simply keep the area clean and see your dentist as soon as you can. If it hurts, take clean tweezers and grab one of the cotton pellets. Dip it in a little bit of clove oil and place it in the tooth. Don’t just dab it; put the whole cotton pellet in the tooth and leave it there. This should minimize the pain until you can get to a dentist.

Caution: NEVER put an aspirin on your tooth or gum. Aspirin is an acid and can burn the tissue.

What do I do if I knocked out a tooth?

  • Hold an ice-pack over your mouth where you lost the tooth to minimize swelling.
  • Very gently rinse off any debris, but DO NOT scrub the tooth.
  • Hold the tooth in your mouth, between the cheek and gum, to keep it moist. But if it’s not possible to hold the tooth in your mouth, submerge the tooth in a glass of milk or gently wrap it in a clean, damp cloth until you get to your dentist’s office.
  • No matter where you hold the tooth, get to a dentist as quickly as possible. It’s likely the tooth can be saved IF you get to the dentist within 30 minutes of losing the tooth.
  • Teeth that have been knocked out will almost always require a root canal, but they can often survive for years if treated within one hour after the injury.

What do I do if a tooth becomes dislodged or loose?

  • Get to a dentist immediately. Many dentists will make room in their schedule to tend to dental emergencies.
  • Avoid moving the tooth. Gently bite your teeth together to hold it in place

What do I do if I chipped my front tooth?

  • Hold an ice-pack over your mouth to minimize swelling
  • Try to keep the fracture piece – sometimes it is possible to bond it back onto the tooth
  • If the chip is very large (more than 1/3 of the tooth surface), you may have exposed the nerve of the tooth.
  • Get to a dentist immediately.
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