A dental emergency can happen any time, any where and can be anything from a chipped tooth, a toothache, a lost filling, or a tooth that’s totally knocked out. While nobody ever wants to experience a dental emergency, the truth is, they happen. When they do, you should be aware of some ways to handle some of the most common dental emergencies. That’s where our dental office in Lawrenceville comes in.

There’s Not a One-Size-Fits-All Solution to All Dental Emergencies

Not every dental emergency is handled the same way, but there is one thing that stays true to every type of dental problem — see your dentist in Lawrenceville as soon as you can. In the meantime, there are a variety of things you can do to help. Let’s examine several common dental emergencies and tips to try in case they happen to you.  

Dental Emergency: Broken/Chipped Tooth

How to Help It: Rinse your mouth and any tooth pieces with warm water to clean them. Save any pieces you happen to find. If you’re bleeding, apply pressure to the area with a piece of gauze until the bleeding stops. Remember, a mouth can bleed a lot, so be patient. To reduce swelling and minimize pain, apply a cold compress to the outside of the mouth.

Dental Emergency: Lost Filling

How to Help It: This emergency will require a dental visit rather quickly to fill in the hole that’s now in your tooth. If you can’t get to the dentist right away, you can buy dental cement at many drugstores that can fill in the space where the dental restoration used to be. A piece of sugarless gum can also help. Just make sure it’s sugar free — anything with sugar in it will hurt!

Dental Problem: Knocked Out Tooth

How to Help It: Promptness is key with this dental emergency as the best chance at saving a knocked out tooth is to get it back into the socket within the hour. The first step is to find the tooth. When and if you do, do NOT touch the roots! Handle your tooth only by the crown, or the white part that usually shows in your mouth. You can gently rinse it with warm water if it’s dirty, but try to put the tooth back in its socket as soon as you can. If that’s not an option, put the tooth in some milk or keep it under your tongue and get to the dentist ASAP.

Prevention is Key

While these tips can help provide some relief, the best way to avoid a dental problem in the first place is to maintain regular visits and dental cleanings at least twice a year. If it’s been awhile since you’ve been to a dentist, we welcome you to call our Lawrenceville dental office to schedule an appointment. We will work with you to make sure there aren’t any potential dangers just waiting to pop up when you least expect it.

Accepting patients from Lawrenceville, Hamilton and the surrounding areas.

Getting your wisdom teeth taken out is such a common procedure that over 90% of Americans undergo the surgery. But why is it important that these late-blooming teeth come out? Can’t they just stay in there? Well, sometimes they can, but if it’s recommended that they be removed, it’s to keep you from additional problems. At our dental office in Lawrenceville, we want to make sure all of our patients understand that there are important reasons we often recommend wisdom teeth extraction.

There’s No Space!

The top reason most wisdom teeth need to be removed is the lack of room remaining in the mouth. If there isn’t enough space for the teeth to fully erupt, other teeth may shift and your bite may suffer. When problems with the bite occur, a whole host of other issues can follow including TMJ pain, headaches, neck and shoulder pain, and loose teeth.

Proper Care is Difficult

Another reason wisdom teeth need to be removed is that these teeth are waaay back there, making them difficult to care for properly. This means that your wisdom teeth are at increased risk for things like gum disease and cavities. If your wisdom teeth have already erupted, it’s important that you see a dentist so they can check for any decay or disease. If anything troublesome is found, the most logical solution may be to remove them and avoid continued issues.

Impacted Wisdom Teeth

Another problem with not having enough space for the teeth to erupt properly is that they can get stuck in the bone. This is referred to as having impacted wisdom teeth. Once the teeth are impacted, treatment tends to become more complicated, so it’s best to catch any potential problems with wisdom teeth and remove them early. If your wisdom teeth do become impacted, your Lawrenceville dentist will talk to you about the most appropriate treatment to help.

The only way you should keep your wisdom teeth is if you have plenty of room, they’re healthy, and you’re able to care for them properly. If checkups at our dental office in Lawrenceville show that your fully erupted wisdom teeth are becoming unhealthy, or that your yet-to-erupt teeth will not have enough room, we will probably recommend getting them removed to keep your mouth in its best, healthiest shape.  

Serving patients in Lawrenceville, Hamilton, and the surrounding areas.