What Do I Do if I Injure My Front Teeth?
An injury to the front teeth can be traumatic. They are commonly caused by an accident, fall, being hit in the face, a sports injury or eating something hard. The treatment will depend on the type of injury which needs to be evaluated by a dentist. Chipped teeth are the most common and minor injury, but even these can be accompanied by unnoticed injuries to surrounding teeth.
Three things to do
1. Act quickly
The quicker you act the better chances you have of saving your tooth. Do not put off seeing a dentist, even if it is the weekend.
Injuries can include a loose tooth, a crack or break, damage to the roots or even the loss of a tooth.
Quick action can save a tooth. Choosing not to act could result in the tooth dying and needing to be pulled.
2. Use milk
If one of your front teeth falls out, and it is a permanent adult tooth, don’t throw it away. Instead, keep it! Call for an emergency appointment and handle the tooth with care. Do not rinse it with water or put it in water. Instead rinse and/or store it in milk, saliva or a sterile saline solution. If a tooth starts to dry out, the cells begin to die.
Optimally put the tooth back where it belongs. If you are able, push the tooth gently back into the socket until it is level. Bite down on a clean cloth as you make your way to the emergency appointment.
Pieces of a broken tooth can also be stored in milk, saliva or a sterile saline solution.
3. Use pressure and ice
If your mouth is bleeding because of the injury, use a clean cloth to apply pressure to the area. Keep it in place for 15 minutes before checking to see if the bleeding has stopped. Repeat the process until you arrive at the emergency dental appointment.
Sometimes swelling can occur. If this happens, use a cold compress or ice. Create a barrier between the cold and your skin with a clean cloth and gently press the cold against your face to reduce the pain and the swelling.
What could happen
If action is not taken immediately, an emergency dental appointment is not made, the injured tooth dries out or the break goes too far into the actual root, then the tooth may begin to die. When this happens there are options.
The front injured tooth may need to be strengthened with a crown, corrected with a veneer or removed and replaced with a bridge or implant.
Best outcome
If the tooth is saved it is important to keep an eye on it. Dental examinations every year and an X-ray every two years are necessary to monitor the injured front tooth.
Your smile is important. Your front teeth make up a big part of that smile. An injury can wreak havoc on the health of your mouth, your confidence and your willingness to show the world your pearly whites. Don’t let a small injury escalate. Make sure to treat an injury as soon as it occurs.
Request an appointment here: https://drcalldental.com or call Dr. Call Dental Center at (706) 425-6240 for an appointment in our Dalton office.
Related Posts
A tooth abscess is a dental emergency because it has a risk of the infection expanding to other parts of the body. If an abscess spreads to the brain, it can have life-threatening effects.Abscesses can be incredibly painful, and the pain is often accompanied by swelling. The severity of the pain and swelling is often…
There is a brief window of opportunity in which an emergency dentist may be able to save a tooth that gets knocked out. The chances are better within 30 minutes after the injury and start to decrease after an hour, so prompt treatment is key. There are things you can do before seeing the dentist…
If you think you have a dental abscess, you should see an emergency dentist as soon as possible. An abscess is a dental infection that causes pus to collect in or around a tooth. Periodontal abscesses originate from the structures around the tooth, such as the jawbone or gums. Endodontic infections originate from inside the…
An emergency dentist can provide prompt care after a mouth injury to minimize the initial discomfort and long-term complications. In many cases, visiting an emergency dentist after an injury can save teeth from becoming lost and ensure that an oral infection does not develop.There are many ways that a dental emergency can develop. From car…