Need After Hours Dentist For Your Dental Emergencies?

Knowing how to handle a dental emergency is important for adults and adults with children. Having a trustworthy after hours dentist on standby in an emergency can reduce some of the anxiety involved. Accidents can and will happen and knowing how to respond can mean the difference between saving and losing permanent teeth.

Your dentist should be the first person you contact in a dental emergency. Here at No Gaps Dental, we offer a varying range of schedules between our 15 Sydney clinics. Most of our clinics are open until 6 pm on weekdays and 4 pm or 6 pm on Saturdays. If you or a loved one is in the market for a new family emergency dentist who offers flexible hours, please contact us so we can answer any questions you might have.

Whether travelling or at home, managing a dental emergency until you can see a dentist can sometimes make a huge difference in what happens following the emergency. Below are some common dental emergencies that occur and tips for managing them until you are able to meet with a dentist or emergency dentist.

Common Dental Emergencies

Dental emergencies can vary, but usually involve a broken tooth or severe pain and swelling in the mouth. If you believe you or your child have experienced one of these, it is essential to contact your dentist after hours or an emergency department as soon as possible. The sooner you make this contact, the more likely the possibility of saving the injured tooth. Some common dental emergencies include:

Knocked-Out Tooth – A knocked-out tooth is an emergency that requires urgent dental or medical attention. Often, if the proper steps are taken after a tooth is knocked out, the chances are fairly good that the tooth can be reinserted and preserved by the dental professional.

• Pick up the lost tooth or teeth without touching the roots.
• Rinse off the tooth or teeth to ensure they are clean. Do not scrub the teeth or remove any tissue. Take care that the tooth or teeth do not fall down the drain.
• If you are able too, place the tooth back in the socket while gently biting down.
• If you are unable to place the tooth back in the socket, put it in a cup of milk.
• Call your after hours dentist immediately.

Loose Tooth or Teeth – If you have discovered that a tooth is loose or not in its usual alignment with your other tooth, it is important to set up an appointment with your dentist right away. Meanwhile, using light pressure with your fingers, attempt to move the tooth back into its original place, but not with force. You may apply light pressure through bite to hold the tooth in place. The dentist may want to splint, or bridge, the teeth between the adjacent teeth to ensure its stability.

Broken, Chipped, and Cracked Teeth – If you or your child have chipped a tooth, but are not experiencing pain involved with the chip, this is typically not considered a dental emergency, and waiting a few days to see a dental professional is okay. However, it is important to take care while chewing and until you can make it into the dentist so as not to chip it more. A chipped tooth is often a quick fix involving the dentist smoothing out the area and applying a composite resin over the area.

A cracked or fractured tooth is a more serious situation typically considered a dental emergency. This is because this type of damage usually indicates that the injury goes beyond just the aesthetics of the tissue, sometimes causing nerve or tissue damage as well. Sometimes in the instance of a fracture, the damage will be too severe to save the tooth. If you or your child have experienced a crack or fracture to a tooth, call your emergency dentist immediately and take the following steps:

• Clean your mouth out by rinsing with warm saltwater. This should be done in a mild and gentle manner.
• If the crack or fracture is the result of trauma to the face, apply an ice pack to help with swelling.
• Do not apply over-the-counter pain relievers such as Orajel. This can cause severe damage to the gum.

An x-ray is often necessary under these circumstances for the dentist to assess the damage. If the soft tissue of the tooth is damaged, your dentist may recommend a root canal. If the tooth cannot be saved, the dental professional will recommend other procedures to replace the missing tooth. This may include a dental implant or a bridge. 

Tissue Injury – Tissue injuries inside of the mouth such as puncture wounds or deep cuts or tears to the lips, mouth, cheeks, or gums, are considered dental emergencies. If you or your child experience a tissue injury, the first step is to clean the mouth gently with warm water. If bleeding occurs, gently apply gauze to the areas. It is important to contact your dentist after hours, but in the case of tissue damage, you should get to an oral surgeon or emergency department as soon as possible. Never take or give ibuprofen or aspirin products as they are considered anticoagulants and may cause extreme bleeding. 

Unsure if it is a Dental Emergency?

Chipped teeth do not usually constitute a dental emergency. If you are still unsure, asking the following questions can help you determine whether to contact your dentist after hours:

• Are you or your child bleeding?
• Are you or your child experiencing severe pain?
• Do you or your child have a loose tooth?
• Have you or your child experienced a traumatic event to the face?
• Do you or your child have swelling in the mouth or face?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it may be an emergency, and you should call your dentist as soon as possible. If you are unable to reach a dentist, you should go to your local accident and emergency department room as soon as possible.

Final Thoughts

At No Gaps Dental, we pride ourselves in our family-oriented preventative dental practices. We understand that sometimes accidents happen, and we want to assure you that we will be there for you in the event of an emergency. With 15 Sydney locations and 35 dentists, we are confident that one of our locations will suit all of your dental needs. Contact us today at (02) 8806 0219.