Common Types of Dental Emergencies

A dental emergency can happen to anyone at any time for different reasons.

Common dental emergencies include tooth decay, gum disease, and chipped teeth.

While good dental care is the best way to keep your teeth healthy, it's important to know what counts as a dental emergency and how to respond quickly to avoid serious damage.

What types of dental emergencies are there, and do you know how to handle them?

At 4th Floor Dental, we strive to educate our patients so they can act quickly before coming to our clinic.

To help you understand this stressful situation better, keep reading.

What is a dental emergency?

A dental emergency is a dental problem that needs immediate help. Not every dental issue is an emergency. So, what is considered a dental emergency?

You need emergency care if you have bleeding that won’t stop, pain that doesn’t improve with medicine, or broken facial bones.

Where should you go for a dental emergency?

Many dental clinics, such as 4th Floor Dental Urgent Care, have an emergency number for calls outside regular hours.

If you don’t have a dentist, go to an urgent care center or the nearest emergency room.

After getting first aid, many dental emergencies can be treated at your dentist's office instead of the emergency room.

7 Common Types of Dental Emergencies

If you're faced with any of these dental emergencies, contact your dentist immediately for advice.

1. Severe toothache

Having a toothache is usually a sign that something is wrong, like tooth decay.

While some tooth pain can be managed without emergency care, certain signs, such as swelling, need urgent attention.

If you have severe tooth pain that keeps coming back and notice other symptoms, you may have a dental emergency.

How can you handle this dental emergency?

Rinse your mouth with warm water.

Use dental floss to remove any food stuck between your teeth.

Apply a cold compress on the outside of your cheek.

Take over-the-counter pain relievers like acetaminophen, naproxen, or ibuprofen.

Don’t put aspirin or other painkillers directly on your gums or teeth. This can harm your gum tissue.

After treatment, expect that your dentist will emphasize the importance of good oral hygiene to prevent cavities, tooth decay, and other serious dental issues.

2. Badly cracked tooth

People who grind or clench their teeth are more likely to chip or crack them.

Some chips or cracks are not dental emergencies, especially if they only affect the surface of the tooth.

While these can weaken the tooth and cause sensitivity or sharp edges, you can wait to see your dentist during a regular appointment.

However, a badly cracked tooth can expose the inner tooth pulp, which is a serious issue.

Large chips or deep fractures can cause severe sensitivity and increase the risk of infection, which may require a root canal and a dental crown.

If you notice a large crack or chip in your tooth, see a dentist right away to fix it. It can be hard to tell how serious the damage is by yourself.

What to do in this dental emergency:

Rinse your mouth with warm water.

If there’s bleeding, press a piece of gauze on the area for about 10 minutes or until the bleeding stops.

Apply a cold compress to the outside of your mouth, cheek, or lip near the broken tooth to relieve pain and reduce swelling.

See your dentist as soon as possible.

3. Knocked-out tooth

Any facial impact that makes teeth loose or causes them to fall out is a dental emergency.

This often happens in contact sports like football, boxing, or rugby, but it can also occur in unexpected situations, like falling.

If a tooth is loose, try to keep it in its socket to prevent it from falling out.

You can do this by gently biting down on the tooth.

If the tooth falls out, handle it carefully:

Pick it up by the crown (the part you see in your mouth) and rinse the root only if it's dirty.

Don't scrub it or remove any tissue still attached.

If possible, try to put the tooth back in place, but be careful not to push it too hard into the socket. The sooner you do this—ideally within an hour—the better your chances of saving the tooth.

If you can't put the tooth back in, place it in a small cup with milk or water with a pinch of salt.

4. Dental abscess

Swelling in and around the mouth usually means there is a serious infection.

Dental abscesses are swollen areas or pimple-like infections that occur around the root of a tooth or between your teeth and gums.

An abscess is one of the most severe types of dental emergencies and can damage tissue and nearby teeth.

If left untreated, the infection can cause swelling in your face or jaw and may spread to other parts of your body.

If you have a dental abscess, see your dentist as soon as possible.

In the meantime, to ease the pain and help bring the pus to the surface, rinse your mouth with a mix of 1/2 teaspoon of salt in 8 ounces of water several times a day.

5. Lost filling or crown

Both permanent and temporary dental restorations can become loose or fall out. This happens more often with temporary ones. If this occurs, you need emergency dental care for both types.

If you have a broken or missing filling, place a piece of sugarless gum in the cavity, as sugar-filled gum may cause pain.

You can also use over-the-counter dental cement.

Be sure to see your dentist as soon as possible.

6. Bleeding Following a Tooth Extraction

When you have a tooth extraction, some bleeding is normal. Your body will form a blood clot in the empty socket to stop the bleeding.

But the bleeding will persist if the blood clot becomes dislodged or fails to develop.

You should call your dentist because it may be a dental emergency.

While you wait, place a thick gauze pad over the extraction site and bite down to apply pressure. Avoid rinsing, drinking, eating, sucking, spitting, and smoking.

7. Serious soft tissue injury

The soft tissues in your mouth include the lips, gums, inside of the cheeks, and tongue.

If any of these areas get injured, it's important to contact your emergency dentist for guidance.

Some injuries may need a visit to the emergency dentist, while others might require a trip to the emergency room.

To stop the bleeding, follow these steps:

Rinse your mouth with a mild salt-water solution.

Take a moistened piece of gauze or a caffeinated tea bag and press it against the bleeding area. Hold it in place for 15 to 20 minutes.

Apply a cold compress to the outside of your mouth or cheek in the affected area for five to 10 minutes to reduce bleeding and ease pain.

If the bleeding doesn’t stop, see your dentist or go to the emergency room.

Keep applying pressure with the gauze until you can see your dentist.

What to do in a dental emergency

During a dental emergency, it can be hard to know what to expect, and you might feel nervous.

For each type of dental emergency, follow the steps we shared above.

Remember, the most important thing you can do is to contact your urgent care clinic or dentist.

Where to go for a dental emergency

For common dental emergencies, like a damaged or loose tooth, your dentist can usually help you in their clinic. For more serious injuries, like broken facial bones, go straight to the emergency room.

Don’t worry about getting an X-ray yourself or finding the perfect day for an appointment.

The sooner you go to dental emergency care, the better.

Many types of dental emergencies discussed in this article can have long-lasting effects if not treated on time.

Conclusions

Toothaches, bleeding, chipped, cracked, loose, or missing teeth, soft tissue injuries, and missing dental restorations are all considered types of dental emergencies.

A dental emergency can be very stressful, especially if your child has a tooth knocked out or badly cracked.

If you don’t have a dental emergency dentist yet, 4th Floor Dental is here to help you with any questions and provide support during a dental emergency in Toronto.