5 Quick Tips For Your Child’s Dental Emergency

by | Jan 28, 2020 | Dental Pain | 0 comments

Tips for kids dental emergencies

You can pick these tear away sheets up at your local pediatric office starting in March of 2020. For now though, feel free to print this page and keep it on your refrigerator, or with your other medical numbers. It will come in handy to have it easily accessible at the time of a dental emergency.

So what are the 5 things you NEED to know about your Child’s Dental Emergency?

  1. If your child knocks out their adult tooth, you should put that adult tooth in milk or saliva and call your dentist IMMEDIATELY!  Your dentist may be able to save the tooth.
  2. Toothaches cannot be “cured” by an over-the-counter pain reliever.  Unlike a headache, if a tooth is hurting it must be treated by a dentist. If a tooth is abscessed, the infection that causes the pain must be eliminated with extraction. . . even if it’s a baby tooth.  Remember that just because an antibiotic takes away the pain the tooth is still abscessed!
  3. Baby teeth have roots and can cause a toothache when the decay spreads to the nerve of the tooth.  Topical ointments that contain pain relievers only provide temporary relief. Topical medications are most effective on cheeks and gums.  Often they don’t work on teeth where the nerve has been injured because they attract germs and food. Check with your dentist to make sure that you are not causing your child’s toothache to get worse.
  4. If your child chips a tooth, first make sure that your child hasn’t injured their head, has no open cuts or wounds and is acting normally (crying is normal if your child has taken a tumble).  If your child seems dazed or confused, CALL YOUR PEDIATRICIAN IMMEDIATELY. Once we know that your child doesn’t have a concussion and is acting normally, call our office so that we can get your child in for an x-ray to make sure that nothing is broken and the tooth or teeth are okay!

Warr Pediatric Dental Associates has a 24-hour emergency line as well as a wealth of information on our website.  Call us at 336-887-9277. When the office is closed press the number “4” to directly connect to our emergency line.