Emergency Dental Conditions

• Broken, Chipped, or Cracked Teeth Rinse your mouth with warm water to clean the area and apply a cold compress to the outside of the face to reduce swelling. Save any broken tooth fragments and bring them with you to the office as soon as possible.
• Knocked-Out Permanent Tooth Time is critical. Gently rinse the tooth without scrubbing the root. If possible, try to place the tooth back into the socket. If that isn't possible, keep it moist in a small container of milk or saliva and call us immediately for an emergency appointment.
• Severe or Persistent Toothache A sudden, intense toothache can indicate an infection or abscess. Rinse with warm salt water and use dental floss to ensure no food is trapped. Avoid placing aspirin directly on the gums, as this can cause tissue irritation; instead, contact us to find the underlying cause.
• Objects Caught Between Teeth If an object is stuck, try to gently remove it with dental floss. Never use a sharp or pointed tool, such as a needle or pin, as this can damage the enamel or cut your gum tissue. If floss does not work, please call our office.
• Broken or Dislocated Jaw This is a serious injury that requires immediate attention. Apply a cold compress to control swelling and head to the nearest emergency room or call our office immediately. If you are having trouble breathing or swallowing, dial 911.
• Lost Filling or Crown While not always painful, a lost restoration leaves the tooth vulnerable to further damage. Keep the crown if you have it, and try to keep the area clean until you can get to our office to have it recemented or replaced.

Because we live longer and more stressful lives today, we are exposing our teeth to many more years of potentially damaging habits such as clenching, grinding, and chewing on hard objects.

These habits make our teeth more susceptible to cracks. Our office may treat a cracked tooth to prevent further damage to the tooth structure and tissue.

Cracked teeth do not always show any visible signs of damage, but may present a variety of symptoms, including erratic pain when you chew with them, and pain or sensitivity to heat and cold. In many cases, the pain may come and go, making it difficult for us to locate the source.

When the outer hard tissues of the tooth are cracked, chewing can cause movement of the pieces, and the pulp becomes irritated. When biting pressure is released, the crack can close quickly, resulting in a momentary, sharp pain. Irritation of the dental pulp can be repeated many times by chewing.

Eventually, the pulp will become damaged to the point where it can no longer heal itself. The tooth will not only hurt during chewing but may also become sensitive to extreme temperatures.

In time, a cracked tooth may begin to hurt all by itself. Extensive cracks will lead to infection of the pulp tissue, even spreading to the bone and gum tissue that surround the tooth.