The Role of Emergency Dentists

By Arthur Kezian

It can be quite stressful when your tooth hurts like crazy after office hours or during the weekends when dental service is not available. An emergency dentist is often a welcome sight if he/she is willing to take the extra mile for a desperate patient.

Urgent dental care can help fix problems which include a strong negative impact on the mouth, teeth or gum. Chipped or broken teeth, bleeding gums or knocked out teeth may want to be attended to quickly. There must be some emergency dentists who are willing to make house calls or open up for these stressful moments.

Classification of Dental Emergencies

Tooth aches

Some tooth pain is so severe that no painkiller can ease it. It could be caused by a broken tooth, a new cavity or an old filling decay. Other reasons include damage from excessive grinding on the tooth. The only solution is to consult the dentist immediately while taking some temporary painkillers.

Sore/swollen gums

These are caused by plaque or gum disease infection; it could also be caused by food stuck between your teeth. Gentle brushing or flossing may ease the pain as you try to dislodge the pieces stuck while rinsing with warm water with salt. If that simple treatment does not ease the pain, call the emergency dentists.

Broken tooth

A broken tooth happens from accidental falls, fighting, sports-related injuries, car accidents or biting hard food. When cavities are old and weak, broken tooth can occur causing chipping or even fractures. Large broken portions can be very painful caused by internal damage and exposed nerves.  

Lost crown

A dropped crown warrants attention. Meanwhile, you can apply some dabs of clove oil onto your tooth’s sensitive area to ease the pain. The dentist may use a coat of dental cement to stick your crown back into secure position.

Salvaging knocked out tooth

If you have your tooth knocked out for any reason, you should get to an emergency dentist immediately to save the tooth. A knocked out tooth means that it is avulsed which can be re-implanted if it were handled by a professional emergency dentist within an hour.

Salvaging a broken tooth

An emergency dental visit with a dentist can assist in advising you if the broken tooth can be repaired looking at the cavities and nerves. You can save all the broken pieces and put a cold icepack to your lips or cheeks to reduce swelling or pain.

 A clean break can be re-cemented; otherwise a root canal is required to save the tooth nerve.

Salvaging fractured or cracked tooth

These are difficult to be detected as they are not visible in x-rays and they seldom cause pain. Extreme pain happens when the crack or fracture is very severe or outside irritants have entered. You will feel the pain upon eating hot or cold stuff which is a warning on nerve damage.

Emergency dental work does occur, but there is an emergency dentist who is available to assist you. Do your best to stay calm and apply the simple measures you can while waiting for the emergency dentist’s instructions or service.

If you are active in sports, wearing a mouth guard will lessen the possibilities of mouth or teeth injuries.

 Dr. Arthur A. Kezian DDS 443 N. Larchmont Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90004 (323) 467-2777 

-N.S.