My family's dental health is important to me. Unfortunately for me, it is not as important to my little ones. Getting my kids to brush and floss on a daily basis is almost like taking on an obstacle course. I talked to my family's dentist about different methods I could try to encourage them to brush and floss on a regular basis. Some of the tricks worked, some did not. After some experimentation and talking to other parents, I was able to come up with a lot of great tips for helping kids care for their teeth. I started this blog to help other parents get creative when it comes to their kids and dental care.
Bella Snyder
When a dental emergency arises, it is important for you to be knowledgeable about the steps that you should be taking to respond to this situation. Sadly, you may not have given much thought to dental emergencies until you experience one. While the exact steps that you should take can vary based on the exact nature of your emergency, there are a few tips that you should keep in mind that can apply to many different situations.
Avoid Taking Blood Thinning Pain Medications
Dental issues can be a source of tremendous pain, and it is common for individuals to take a pain medication before they leave to see the dentist. When choosing a pain medication, you will want to avoid products that contain aspirin. While this can be a highly effective pain medication, it can also thin your blood, and this may have the effect of causing your injury to bleed excessively. It may also complicate the dentist's treatment as they may be more limited in the approaches that they can utilize.
Limit The Swelling
It is likely that the area that sustained the damage or is experiencing problems will swell. While it is impossible to completely prevent the mouth from swelling, you will want to take steps to limit the amount of swelling that occurs. When a patient's mouth is suffering from intense swelling, the dentist may experience difficulty in treating the problem as the swollen tissue may be in the way. Placing an extremely cold compress or ice pack on the injured area of the mouth can greatly reduce the amount of swelling that occurs. It will also have the added benefit of numbing the damaged area of the mouth, which can help to reduce the discomfort that you experience.
Preserve The Tooth
In particularly severe situations, you may have had one or more of your teeth knocked out of your mouth. Sadly, people often fail to realize that teeth can often be placed back into the mouth when this occurs. However, you will need to preserve the tooth for this to be an option. Otherwise, the root of the tooth will likely die, which will make placing the tooth impossible. To safely store a tooth, you should put it in a plastic bag and place a few drops of water on the tooth to keep it from drying out. As long as the root of the tooth was not severely damaged when it was knocked out, these steps may help preserve the tooth well enough to allow the emergency dentist to put it back in the mouth.