Maybe your toddler just fell on the pavement, your middle schooler dove off the slide and chipped a tooth, or your teen was horsing around and got an elbow in the face. As every parent knows, accidents happen all the time and many can lead to a dental emergency. From a knocked out or chipped tooth to a raging toothache, here’s how to handle the most common dental emergencies:
KNOCKED-OUT TOOTH
This will obviously cause serious trauma, so you’ll need to act fast. First, retrieve the tooth and hold it by the crown, not the root. Rinse the tooth with saline, water or milk, then put it back in the socket. “There are periodontal ligament cells on the outside of the root that will reattach, so you need to keep them alive by reinserting the tooth,” says board-certified pediatric dentist Mario Ramos, DMD, with Dentistry and Orthodontics of Midland Park and president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Foundation. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t get it in there just right or if it’s backwards, just get it in place.”
Then get to your dentist ASAP. Research shows a tooth put back into place within an hour has the best long-term prognosis, says Ramos. If you can’t get the tooth back in, place it in milk (not water because the pH of water harms the cells) while you get to the dentist. Or use a commercial tooth preservation product, such as Save-A-Tooth Preservation Kit. Toss one of these kits in your first aid kit or your child’s bag at practice so it’s always handy, suggests Ramos.
If the tooth was not knocked out of your child’s mouth but has moved, “your child still should be seen right away,” says Peter Duda, DMD, associate professor at Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, and division director of Oral Diagnosis and Treatment Planning for Emergency and Urgent Care. “Your dentist will need to evaluate, and the tooth may need to be splinted to stabilize it so that it can heal.”
CHIPPED OR CRACKED TOOTH
Call your dentist ASAP. Your dentist can evaluate how soon you should be seen, which depends on the type and level of the fracture. For example, a fracture into the pulp may expose nerve endings and must be seen immediately, whereas a minor chip in the enamel can be seen within the week, says Duda. A fractured tooth may or may not be able to be repaired, depending on the severity of the damage.
TOOTHACHE
Kids can have toothaches for several reasons, including a cavity that may be sensitive to hot and cold or an abscess, a swelling on the gums due to a bacterial infection. Your child should be seen ASAP, says Ramos. They likely will need antibiotics and other treatments, such as a filling or root canal. In the meantime, if your child is old enough to spit, have them rinse with warm salt water, and give the child an age-appropriate dose of acetaminophen for pain.
MOUTH SORES
Kids may get canker sores, a white ulcer inside the mouth, due to stress or a minor mouth injury, such as accidentally biting the inside of the cheek. Kids also may get them right before or after a virus, says Ramos. They’re not contagious, but it can hurt if your child keeps touching it. Mostly, they go away on their own, but call your dentist for evaluation, especially if it’s the first time your child has one. In the meantime, an over-the-counter pain medication, such as ibuprofen, can help.
LOOSE OR POKING WIRES OR BRACKETS ON BRACES
Broken orthodontic appliances typically aren’t an emergency, but they can be uncomfortable. Call your dentist for an appointment, but if a wire is poking your child, use a nail clipper to cut the end off because it will need to be replaced anyhow, says Ramos. If that’s not possible, place a pea-sized ball of dental wax on the end of the wire until your child can be seen.
—Arricca Elin SanSone is a New York-based health and lifestyle writer.
