When a dental emergency happens, you should be prepared to act quickly and accordingly. Therefore, learning how to handle specific emergencies ahead of time will help minimize pain and trauma. Of course, after initially treating a dental emergency, you will still need to see your dentist in Willowbrook, IL.
General First Aid for Dental Emergencies
The purpose of administering first aid for dental emergencies is to reduce any bleeding, pain, or swelling of the affected area. It’s also important when dealing with teeth to find any knocked-out teeth or tooth chips so they can be inserted back into your mouth. If you experience any type of dental trauma, you might also require some cosmetic dentistry in Willowbrook, IL.
Ice Pack and Over the Counter Pain Medications
If your mouth injury involves pain and swelling, it helps to put an ice pack or cool, wet cloth on the side of your face. Then you can take some pain medication such as acetaminophen and/or an oral anesthetic to help reduce the pain until you get to your emergency dentist.
Mouth Rinses
If you have an oral infection, abscess, toothache, or any other type of mouth injury, rinse your mouth out with some warm saltwater. This will sometimes help reduce the pain and draw out any infection you might have. However, you will still need to see your emergency dentist, so the issue doesn’t fester and get worse.
Gather Your Knocked-Out Teeth and Any Tooth Chips
As we mentioned above, don’t forget to immediately gather any tooth chips and/or knocked out teeth and put them in your Save-a-Tooth solution (see below). This will help preserve them and increase the chances of them being able to be successfully reimplanted.
Another thing you should consider is to have a dental first aid kit on hand.
Dental First Aid Kit
Here is a list of items you should include in your dental first aid kit.
- Medical-grade exam gloves
- Flashlight
- Dental mirror
- Dental wax, floss, toothpicks
- Tweezers
- Sterile gauze
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Ice pack
- Orajel or Anbesol
- Over the counter pain medication
- Clove oil (works as a sedative to alleviate pain)
- Teabag (a wet tea bag inside of a piece of gauze sometimes helps stop bleeding)
- Save-a-Tooth preservation kit. This is a saline solution that is compatible with your bodily fluids. It’s the best way to keep your tooth/teeth viable when they are knocked out. However, a tooth can only be out of your mouth for a few hours or so before the probability of reimplantation goes down. You can buy the Save-a-Tooth product online.
You can also buy a dental first aid kit online or ask your dentist for a recommendation.
If you need a dentist in Willowbrook, IL, please Contact Dentists of Hinsdale Lake.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. If you have a medical emergency of any kind, please dial 911 or consult your physician.