A dental emergency can take anyone by surprise. While caring for your teeth with regular hygiene and trips to the dentist can help you avoid a toothache or other oral health problems, you simply can’t plan for a dental injury like a knocked out or broken tooth. If you or someone you are close to experiences a dental emergency, you will need to find a professional who can help by providing you with fast, pain-relieving treatment. Fortunately, the team at Rauchberg Dental Group provides high-quality emergency dentistry for Parsippany, NJ families. Keep reading to find out more about how their attention can help rescue your smile when you need it most!
How to Handle a Dental Emergency
Many patients delay getting the emergency treatment they need because they are unsure if what they are experiencing counts as a “real emergency.” Give our dental office a call, and we can provide guidance for your situation and schedule an appointment for you as soon as possible. Getting professional care could mean the difference in saving the tooth or not.
Toothache
Be sure to floss around the painful tooth to make sure that nothing is stuck. For persistent pain, you can take over-the-counter medication and apply a cold compress to your face. Toothaches most often result from decay that has penetrated deep into the tooth. As a result, we may need to perform a root canal in order to save the tooth.
Learn About Root Canals
Chipped/Broken Tooth
Find the pieces of the tooth, store them for possible reattachment, and rinse the mouth out. Apply an ice pack to reduce swelling if necessary, and be sure to cover the remaining part of your tooth with sugar-free gum or dental wax to prevent cuts within your mouth. Our team will do the best we can to salvage the tooth, but if it has sustained too much damage, we may need to consider extracting it.
Learn About Tooth Extractions
Knocked-Out Tooth
Once you locate the tooth, pick it up by the crown—not the root. Gently rinse it off and put it back into the socket or hold it between your cheek and gums until you arrive at our dental office. It is critical that you come as soon as you can, preferably within an hour, if you want to save the natural tooth.
Lost Filling/Crown
Try to locate your lost restoration and put it back onto the tooth. For temporary stability, you can use a piece of sugar-free gum or a dab of toothpaste. Avoid using that tooth for eating until you’re able to come in, and be sure to visit us as soon as possible for a replacement and to avoid future infection.
How to Prevent Dental Emergencies
Your emergency dentist in Parsippany will provide rapid treatment to get you out of pain and on with your life sooner, rather than later. However, you can avoid many dental emergencies altogether by taking these steps:
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Brushing and flossing your teeth every day.
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Visiting Rauchberg Dental Group twice every year for checkups and cleanings.
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Wearing a mouthguard when you play sports.
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Using the proper tools to open packaging instead of your teeth.
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Avoiding chewing on ice, pens, popcorn kernels, etc.
The Cost of a Dental Emergency
Each dental emergency is different, and therefore, requires separate treatments and costs. If you’re worried about how much you’ll owe for dental treatment, you may initially think that you could save money by putting it off until later. But that’s precisely what you shouldn’t do! Oral problems only get worse with time, meaning that you’ll end up spending more down the road than you would have if you had come in and treated it sooner.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with our dental office the next time you or a loved one finds yourself in the middle of a dental emergency. Getting urgent care can help to save your smile -- so save our number in your phone today! If we aren’t in the dental office, leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Dental Emergency Frequently Asked Questions
Are you worried about what steps to take in case you experience a dental emergency? When you contact our team at Rauchberg Dental Group, we’ll walk you through first-aid steps over the phone and make sure that you get the immediate dental care that you need. We’ve also answered some common questions that we receive from our patients below, for your convenience.