What is considered a dental emergency?
A dental emergency, just like ER visits, are a parent’s nightmare. When your child is experiencing a dental problem, your first call should be your dentist. However, sometimes the dentist is closed, like for holidays or the weekend. In these cases, you have to visit the ER or an emergency dentist. But what is considered a dental emergency? Most problems can wait until regular office hours. But if your child is experiencing severe dental pain, excessive bleeding, or major tooth damage, it’s time to call your emergency dentist.
Can Your Issue Wait?
Urgent dental care situations are something that every parent should be aware of. But remember, most children don’t experience major dental emergencies while growing up. The majority of issues that you’ll experience as a parent will involve problems spotted during regular checkups or can be handled as soon as your dentist office opens. These are common problems like tooth cavities and decay or small and nonpainful chipped teeth.
Identifying Dental Emergencies
Keeping track of big versus little problems can be difficult for parents, especially if you have young children. Kids often have trouble describing what’s wrong or identifying pain. The big signs that you might have an emergency are bleeding, tooth damage, and infection symptoms.
Bleeding isn’t good, but it isn’t always an emergency. The issue comes when there is damage that won’t stop bleeding after several minutes of treatment. Bleeding can be a sign of underlying problems like a fractured or lost tooth. Any time that you or someone in your household loses or fractures a tooth, you should see a dentist immediately. Fast treatment is the best way to save a tooth! A severe infection is also an urgent dental matter. If your child has swelling, tooth pain, and sensitivity with a tooth, it may be a sign of an abscess.
Protecting Your Little One’s Teeth
The best way to avoid dental emergencies in your household is to stay proactive in your child’s preventative care! Healthy teeth and good oral hygiene will fight off more than bad breath. It also means that your children will avoid severe complications like advanced decay or weak enamel. In addition to dental care, it’s also important to make sure that everyone in the family wears appropriate protective gear when playing sports like football, skateboarding, wrestling, and more. Protecting smiles today also helps protect them tomorrow!
