It is very difficult to predict dental emergencies, as they can affect you anytime. You might fall, hit your face while playing a sport, or bump into something. All this might result in you having a broken tooth or gum injury.
Your lifestyle and daily activities can also put you at risk of suffering from a dental injury. Moreover, your medical history can lead to certain dental complications. Understanding the causes and potential risks of dental damage is vital to prevent them properly.
Continue reading this article to learn about all the risks of dental injuries and how to prevent them. Let’s dive right in!
What Is A Dental Emergency?
Dental injuries can be terrible and cause you a lot of discomfort. They can disrupt your life completely and affect you at the most unexpected hours. But how do you recognize such an emergency?
Well, you need to understand the signs and symptoms to take the appropriate actions. Here are the most common dental emergency signs in detail –
Dental Pain
If you are experiencing severe dental pain, it needs proper supervision. You might be unable to eat or swallow food properly. This pain can result from an injury, or you might have hurt your teeth while eating.
So, consider this an emergency and seek medical assistance immediately.
Bleeding
Is your mouth suddenly bleeding uncontrollably?
Then, it might be due to an internal dental injury that has affected your gums. A minor gum injury might bleed and stop after a few minutes. However, if the bleeding doesn’t stop and your pain worsens, you’ll need treatment.
Swelling
You might experience sudden swelling in your mouth. It can be due to an infection leading to an abscess and severe dental damage. It’s necessary to visit a doctor before the infection spreads to your entire mouth.
Who Are At Risk?
The injuries discussed above can affect anyone and will have different consequences. Nevertheless, most people are at risk of suffering some sort of dental damage. The most common patient groups who can experience a dental injury are described below.
Children Involved In Sports or Similar Activities
Just like us, children also lead pretty busy lives. In fact, they have a more active lifestyle – going to school, playing, or running around the house! All this makes them injury-prone. The leading causes of dental issues among children are listed below:
- Children who regularly participate in some sport, or love the playground, might hurt themselves
- Accidental falls or bumps can lead to tooth injury, like chipped teeth and gum bleeding
- They might chew on a toy, injuring their gums and milk teeth.
That’s why it’s recommended that parents must keep an eye on what children are consuming or biting.
Adults with Poor Dental Health
Adults not practicing proper oral hygiene habits can harm their teeth unknowingly. Moreover, as we age, our teeth and enamel become weaker. So, habits like not brushing daily or consuming sugary-packed food, can lead to tooth decay.
As a result, if you accidentally hurt your teeth, they might break easily. Consuming very hard foods can also damage your teeth and lead to complications like bleeding.
Moreover, your wisdom teeth might erupt, causing excruciating pain, which will require medical assistance. It can also cause severe swelling around your gums and mouth. Lastly, adults suffering from dental infections are at risk of dental emergencies or injuries.
Senior Citizens
Perhaps the most dental injury-prone group of people are senior citizens. This is because older people usually have poor dental conditions. As they have aged, their teeth have undergone a lot of wear and tear.
So, many senior citizens suffer from extreme tooth decay, discoloration, abscess, infection, and gum bleeding. All these problems can be accompanied by a dental emergency issue.
For example, poor dental health can lead to teeth grinding. It can result in gum bleeding and painful infections and expose the tooth roots. Further, it can result in severe pain that will require medical supervision.
Visit an Emergency Dentist to Tackle Dental Issues
The best strategy to handle and be relieved from any dental emergency is to visit an emergency dentist. Such a dentist can address multiple dental issues and emergencies, helping children and adults.
Pain Relief
The primary responsibility of the emergency dentist is to reduce your pain. So, they might provide effective medication and reduce underlying conditions. They’ll focus on the root cause of tooth pain to cure it.
Moreover, the dentist might offer local anesthesia to numb your dental pain.
Prevention of Tissue Damage
An injury or an infection can cause your gum tissues to be damaged. It can also lead to extreme pain and swelling that might spread to your entire face. Moreover, an injury to the pulp tissue can cause an abscess.
Emergency dentists provide the appropriate medication and treatment methods to address such cases.
Stop Teeth or Gum Bleeding
If you’ve hurt your teeth or gums, which can lead to excessive bleeding, an emergency dentist can tackle it. The doctor might conduct examinations and apply treatment methods to remove the plaque. It might heal your gums and stop the bleeding.
Enhancement of Dental Health
Besides handling emergencies, the dentist might also provide you with tips to improve your oral health. They might ask you to stop consuming sugary food items, alcohol and avoid smoking. So, you might have to discuss the foods in your current diet.
Moreover, you might be instructed to rinse your mouth with lukewarm salt water to reduce bacteria and inflammation. Flossing daily is also a good habit the doctor might promote.
These steps will strengthen your teeth and prevent dental troubles.
Summing Up
It is crucial that you practice proper oral hygiene every day to avoid dental issues. So, listen to all the doctor’s instructions and the prescribed medication. For example, include milk, yogurt, cheese, black tea, and green vegetables in your diet if the doctor recommends them.
Take any medications and prescriptions of your medical history while visiting an emergency dentist. Further, you can visit a dentist every three months to ensure your dental health.
