Even when you have maintained top-notch dental hygiene, you could still end up with dental problems. In such a case, you should immediately call your dentist. Unfortunately, people are not always sure whether they must contact their dentist during regular business hours directly or wait for the weekend. You should know the differences between a real dental emergency and a common dental issue, which can wait till the following day.

Dental emergencies are common enough, so ask yourself if you are in debilitating bleeding and pain, loose or lost teeth, chipped teeth, abscess, and swelling in the gums. In either case, emergency dental care in Fairfax comprises tooth removal, severe pain alleviation, and bleeding control.

• Loose teeth

If you have noticed that your tooth is loose or knocked out due to biting hard or accidents, you should immediately book an appointment with your emergency dentist in Fairfax VA. Emergency dental care alleviates the pain and saves the tooth, which is you should keep the tooth in warm milk or in the mouth to moisten and preserve it.

If the tooth has been knocked out of the mouth, rinse any blood and debris off the tooth. Do not touch the tooth’s root. Instead, reinsert the tooth into the socket and secure it by closing the jaw and lightly biting the tooth area. Alternatively, hold the tooth in place using your finger. In any case, never submerge the broken tooth in regular tap water. Tap water contains chemicals, eroding and damaging the tooth’s structure.

• Broken and chipped teeth

Though broken teeth need not be an emergency, you must consult a dentist if you have noticed pain in your chipped teeth. In some cases, discomfort indicates that the tooth roots are affected by the breaking and chipping. Should the dental crown entirely fall off, your tooth is left exposed to damage and infection. If you schedule an emergency dental appointment for crown replacement, you can avoid a tooth extraction or root canal.

• Exposed nerves and soft tissue injury

If you have injured your tongue, lips, cheeks, or gums, you should contact your emergency dentist. Examples include punctures, tears, and lacerations to the soft tissues that require immediate attention. You should visit a standard emergency room or the emergency dental room per the dentist’s instructions. In case of exposed nerves, you must visit your dentist immediately to prevent further infection and nerve damage. Seeking emergency dental help contains expensive or complicated dental treatments in the future.

• Severe toothache

Toothache comes in various severities, which is why you must contact an emergency dentist in Fairfax, VA. If you have noticed tooth sensitivity, swelling, and fever along with your toothache, you should contact the dentist immediately. Should you have an unexplainable and sudden toothache, look for a qualified dental professional to evaluate and cure the problem. When you are wearing for the dentist, rinse the mouth with salty water, use OTC pain medication and apply cold compresses to treat the discomfort.

• Swollen jaws

If you notice sudden swelling in your jaw, you must contact your dentist to get treated for irritation or infection in the lymph nodes. In addition, you must make immediate decisions if you experience difficulty swallowing and breathing, bad taste in the mouth, or fever.

• Bleeding or swollen gums

Though gum irritation is usually not a medical emergency, constantly bleeding gums accompanied with swelling and pain indicate underlying health issues. If you do not have a reason for constantly swollen gums, you must visit an emergency dentist for immediate medical treatment.

• Dental abscess

Though it sounds life-threatening, dental abscesses are a severe dental condition that must be treated immediately. In addition, you could experience sensitivity to cold and heat, fever, constant toothache, face swelling, tender lymph nodes in the neck, and bumps on the gum near your infected tooth. If you cannot visit the dentist right away, rinse the mouth with saline water to reduce the pus and pain.

• Missing fillings

If you notice that your teeth chip or break easily without reinforcement, it becomes a dental emergency. It also exposes the teeth’s nerves, which requires immediate medical treatment.

• Objects lodged in the teeth

If you have an object lodged in the teeth, which doesn’t go away with flossing and brushing – you should visit a dentist. If the professional does not remove the obstruction, it causes gum irritation, infection, tooth decay, and shifting gums.

To avoid a dental emergency, you should practice safe oral hygiene along with routine checkups—your dentist checks for loose crowns and fillings, gum disease, infection, and decay. If you are looking for emergency dental care in Fairfax, please contact us at Optimal Dental Center.