You can’t afford to lose any time during a true dental emergency. Our dental office accepts emergency calls after normal business hours, and we try to see you on the same day whenever possible. Get in touch with us as soon as you notice dangerous symptoms, such as a painful toothache or a broken tooth; many of our specialists have over 30 years of experience and can quickly provide lasting relief with emergency dentistry in Little Rock, AR.
There are many different kinds of dental emergencies – such as those caused by an infection or ones that result from a sudden injury – but the first step is always the same: call your dentist as soon as you can. Based on the symptoms you describe, we can give you instructions on what to do for your tooth in the meantime as well as how to prepare for your emergency appointment. You can follow the tips below to take control during common dental emergencies.
Check the area around the tooth and get rid of any trapped food particles using dental floss or warm saltwater. You can take an over the counter medication to manage your tooth pain, but avoid applying aspirin directly to the teeth or gums. Use a cold compress if swelling occurs.
Stop any bleeding with a piece of gauze, then rinse the area with warm water. Gather any fragments of the tooth that might have broken off. Swelling may or may not occur when a tooth has been injured; like with a toothache, you can apply a cold compress if you need to.
Only pick up the tooth by the crown-- avoid touching the delicate root. Rinse it off without cleaning it too vigorously, then try to put it back in its socket and hold it in place with clean gauze. If this doesn’t work, carry it in milk instead. You’ll need to see your dentist within the hour so the tooth can be replanted.
A missing restoration should be taken very seriously; after all, fillings and crowns are typically placed to support and protect a tooth that has already suffered from decay or damage. You can try and reattach the crown with dental cement, but this should only be treated as a temporary fix.
It’s hard to know ahead of time what the cost of your emergency visit will be; we can only give you a range once we know exactly what the issue is and how it needs to be treated. (Extracting an irreparable tooth, for example, is going to carry a different price than root canal therapy to remove an infection.) Each situation is unique, but the one constant is that we’ll only recommend procedures that we feel are absolutely necessary for your oral health.