Accidents and injuries to your mouth can happen at any time. Here, our Richmond Hill dentists discuss common oral injuries that require an emergency trip to the dentist.
Dental Emergencies
If you experience a dental emergency, the best thing to do is call your dentist right away to get advice on what your next steps should be. Some things, like a minor chipped tooth, may not need to be seen right away. Other situations are time-sensitive, such as a knocked-out tooth. Getting the care you need right away can help you avoid further dental problems down the road.
1. Broken Teeth
Teeth are remarkably strong, but they can still break. This can happen by biting down on something too hard, being hit in the face, having cavities, falling, and having outdated fillings that don’t support the remaining enamel of the tooth. When a tooth breaks, it may not hurt at first—but it's still important to see the dentist right away to avoid any future problems. Your dentist will examine your tooth and let you know what can be done to fix it.
2. Severe Crack
A severe crack is essentially a broken tooth. The tooth may look okay to you, and only hurt when you eat food or it may be causing you constant pain. If this is the case, you may have a damaged nerve or blood vessels. You must get emergency treatment right away if this happens. A damaged nerve will usually require a root canal treatment to repair it.
3. Knocked-Out Tooth
A knocked-out tooth will often occur if you play contact sports like basketball, football, or hockey. If your tooth is completely knocked out, you need to seek dental care as soon as possible. You should keep your tooth if you can find it, and call your dentist for instructions on how to preserve it. The faster you visit a dental clinic, the better chance you have of saving your natural tooth.
4. Toothache
There are multiple reasons why you may have a toothache, some of which are far more serious than others. Try to get into see a dentist as soon as possible instead of waiting for the toothache to go away. This can be extremely important if you have swollen gums, or throbbing pain, as there may be some type of nerve damage. As previously mentioned, if that is the case a root canal may be in your future.
5. Chipped Tooth
A chipped tooth can easily occur from biting down on food too hard. Small chips don’t need emergency treatment right away. However, chips do have the chance of becoming worse and could eventually cause the tooth to split completely so you should still make an appointment to get in to see your dentist fairly soon.