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what is considered emergency dental sydney

What is Considered Emergency Dental? Understand What To Do

Dental emergencies are much more common than you think. Your oral health can be affected by different conditions and illnesses damaging your teeth. If these conditions are not treated on time, they can become much more significant. It is essential to understand that not every dental problem you have is an emergency. You can classify a dental emergency as any situation where you feel your life is in danger, for example, excessive bleeding from a tooth.

 

Top 5 Causes of Dental Emergencies

From tripping on the stairs and injuring your mouth to a cracked tooth from biting on hard candy, a dental emergency can happen anytime. Many oral conditions might not look like a dental emergency right now but may transition into a serious one.

 

Severe tooth decay

Cavities lead to tooth decay, which damages the pulp in the tooth, leading to a bacterial infection. This causes the pulp to die and is very painful. It can land you in the dentist’s office for emergency treatment of a root canal to drain the infection or tooth extraction.

dental emergency what to do sydneyYou can avoid tooth decay by:

  • Brushing your teeth twice a day
  • Using floss to clean between teeth
  • Control the intake of sugar attacking your teeth
  • Regular check-ups with the dentist to ensure oral health

 

Knocked out tooth

A dental injury usually causes a tooth to get knocked out. Children are frequent visitors to the dentist’s office with a knocked-out tooth. It can be excruciatingly painful to lose a tooth like that.  If it’s a permanent tooth, carefully clean it with water without touching the root and place it back on the gum before heading to the dentist.

For sport-loving people, there are mouthguards available to prevent mouth injuries.

 

Cracked or broken tooth

A tooth fractures when there is a crack in the enamel of your tooth. A cracked tooth can be painful if the split is severe, which affects the root. Only severe splits or broken teeth should be seen immediately by a dentist. Even though accidents happen, you must try your best to prevent this.

  • Wearing a mouthguard during extreme spots
  • Do not use your teeth to tear or open things
  • Avoid chewing on ice
  • Do not grind your teeth.
  • Do not try to break hard nut shells

 

Wisdom tooth

Wisdom teeth are the last ones of your teeth to grow and can give you a hard time dealing with them. Since this tooth grows at the very end of your gums, there is sometimes no place for it, causing it to get stuck halfway at the wrong position. This type of impacted wisdom tooth is extremely painful and needs surgery for removal.

Do not delay the check-up of your wisdom tooth, it can take weeks to recover if the infection spreads to the gum and throat.

You cannot stop the wisdom tooth from growing, but If you feel pain at the very back of your lower or upper gums and it feels a little swollen, then you may consult with your dentist before the eruption. Your dentist can suggest an x-ray to get a clear picture of the wisdom tooth.

 

Tooth abscess

An abscessed tooth causes severe pain and can become an oral emergency since the abscess can widely spread from tooth to gums and even blood in case neglected.

 

 

What is considered an emergency dental problem?

Let’s explore 5 most common dental emergencies

 

Infected tooth

If you are having a high fever, throbbing headache, and terrible tooth pain, then most likely, it is an infected tooth which is a dental emergency. The pain is usually too intense and cannot be managed at home for more than a couple of hours. It is not recommended to ingest a heavy dose of painkillers to reduce the pain without your dentist’s advice. 

 

Bleeding tooth or gums

Excessive and frequent bleeding from your tooth or gum indicates gum disease.

causes dental emergency sydneyThere is no need to panic, but you should still schedule a dental appointment to have it looked at. Blood found in saliva might also be a sign of oral malignancy.

Sometimes after tooth removal or post-surgical treatments, you may experience heavy bleeding.

If you are a patient with high blood pressure or diabetes, then this bleeding may become severe; therefore, emergency dental treatment is required to control it. 

 

Oral sores

Canker sores are not a reason to worry, but sometimes canker sores can get worse and turn into a bacterial infection resulting in literal wounds of the mouth. Bad oral sores also cause throat infections and can be a sign of more sinister disease, so it is considered a dental emergency.

 

Knocked-out or a dislodged tooth

A knocked-out tooth can be reattached with a straightforward procedure at a dentist’s office, provided you immediately head to the dental emergency clinic no later than 30 minutes after the accident. A dislodged tooth is also taken as a serious dental trauma due to the ripped tissue. 

 

Broken jaw

A broken jaw may involve a misalignment of your teeth which can only be addressed at the hospital by your emergency dentist. Time is crucial in such incidents. A broken jaw is extremely painful and requires immediate dental treatment.

 

Are you dealing with a dental emergency?

Now you are well informed about what can be considered a dental emergency, assess your symptoms and book your appointment with No Gaps Dental or call us on (02) 8007 6727 to receive urgent dental care.

 

 

 

Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner. 

 

 

 

 

 

References

What counts as a dental emergency?
https://dentalhealthsociety.com/general/what-counts-as-a-dental-emergency/

Handling dental emergencies
https://www.webmd.com/oral-health/handling-dental-emergencies

 

 

 

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