Dental Emergencies and When to Call the Dentist

From learning to walk to baseball games, tumbling lessons, or spontaneous parkour sessions through our living rooms, our kids are full of energy and learning to explore and enjoy the world around them. Along with their adventures comes the risk of getting hurt. Those injuries sometimes involve their mouth or teeth, and it could be hard to know what to do.

What is a Dental Emergency?

Some oral and dental injuries are emergencies, while others are not. Along with dental emergency injuries, there are other types of dental emergencies. A dental emergency is defined as “a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action.” Let’s discuss a little about what some dental emergencies look like to know better if your child has a true dental emergency.

Types of Dental Emergencies

Many injuries to the mouth and teeth heal well without immediate treatment. However, more severe injuries heal better the sooner they’re treated. These injuries are dental emergencies.

Some examples of these types of dental emergencies are:

• Knocked-out or displaced permanent teeth–these teeth are either pushed back, in, or out, or completely removed from the gum area. If seen quickly after injury, knocked-out teeth can be put back in, and displaced teeth can be repositioned.

That said, when it comes to baby teeth that have been knocked out or displaced, we tend to leave those alone as any type of treatment to move and reposition the teeth increases the risk of damage to the permanent teeth. Occasionally, we reposition baby teeth, but they normally move back into place independently. For this reason, most injuries to baby teeth are not true emergencies and can be managed from home while waiting to see the dentist during the week.

• Fractures to the jaw, chin, and alveolus–the bone that supports the teeth–may also constitute emergencies, especially if the bones are displaced. Broken teeth alone, although scary to have happen, are usually not emergencies.

Severe dental infections that have started to spread from the tooth into the surrounding tissues can cause facial swelling or severe pain. This infection is called cellulitis.

• Facial swelling is an emergency because the swelling can compress the throat (usually a lower tooth infection) or move towards the eye (usually an upper tooth infection). Emergency treatment for infection may include IV antibiotics and extraction or root canal. Sometimes, teeth can be infected, but there is no facial swelling. Instead, there is severe tooth pain. A combination of over-the-counter pain medications and antibiotics can help to manage this pain until tooth treatment can be completed.

If you are still unsure, call us; we’ll happily have your child checked out in our office. At KidSmiles, we’re happy to help you navigate your child’s dental emergencies and get you and your kids smiling again!