Five Emergency Dental Hacks

One of the hottest topics in social media today are life hacks – an uncommon practice or technique that can make some aspect of your life easier. Today we want to share with you some life hacks that may help you save a tooth or alleviate pain in an emergency situation when you can’t get to a dentist quickly.

1. Got a TOOTHACHE? First brush and floss to remove all the food particles. Then rinse with warm salt water. If you have swelling, then use cold compression to the affected area. See your dentist at Apple Dental as soon as possible to prevent further damage to your teeth or worsening of toothache.
2. You woke up with a SWOLLEN JAW. Swelling is most commonly caused by an abscess or infection. You don’t want to play around with an abscess, so the first thing you need to do is call Apple Dental and we will get you in ASAP. In the meantime, rinsing with warm salt water eases pain, but if it’s over the weekend or a holiday, you may need to go emergency room to get antibiotics to keep the infection from spreading, then follow up with us to treat the source of the infection.
3. A CROWN is loose or pops off. You are enjoying a delicious caramel apple and suddenly you bite down on something that shouldn’t be there. Pop it out and there is one of your crowns. What now? Try to replace it and use over-the-counter dental cement or denture adhesive like Polygrip or Fixodent. NEVER use Crazy or Super Glue! If the tooth is sensitive, a cotton swab soaked in clove oil with help soothe the pain. If the crown is loose, go ahead and try to pry it off. You want to control when it comes off, so you won’t accidentally swallow it. Floss is really good for this. Then use an adhesive to replace it. If you can make the crown feel reasonably secure, leave the crown on the tooth so that teeth doesn’t move or shift. Check us out for re-cementing the crown as soon as possible.
4. You LOOSE A FILLING OR BREAK A TOOTH: A filling can be lost due or the tooth can break do to fracture in the filling or decay in the tooth. A temporary solution is to use the OTC dental filling material or use a chewed sugar free gum when it becomes soft to temporarily replace the filling. If the tooth feels sharp to the tongue or cheek, cover it with sugar free gum until you can get to Apple Dental to have it repaired.
5. It’s a KNOCK OUT! That pick-up basketball game sure was fun until your front tooth connected to your buddy’s elbow. A tooth can be completely knocked out of the mouth due to blunt trauma to the face due to vehicle accidents, sport injuries or a fight. When the tooth falls out on the floor, then gently rinse with water without scrubbing. Hold the crown of the tooth and try to place in the socket back without using force and try to hold it in place with gauze or finger pressure. If you cannot place it in the socket then carry the tooth in a container with milk. The tooth has the highest chance of survival if you can see a dentist in 30-60 minutes of trauma.. This condition needs immediate attention and most probably needs antibiotics. Call us!