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Emergency Care

Toothache
Rinse the mouth with water and apply a cold compress, or ice wrapped in a cloth. Do not apply heat or aspirin to the sore area.

Fractured teeth
If a tooth is fractured, rinse mouth with warm water and use an ice pack or cold compress to reduce swelling. Use ibuprofen, not aspirin, for pain. Immediately contact your dentist.

Minor fractures can be smoothed by the dentist with a sandpaper disc or simply left alone. Another option is to restore the tooth with a composite restoration. In either case, treat the tooth with care for several days.

Moderate fractures include damage to the enamel, dentin and/or pulp. If the pulp is not permanently damaged, the tooth may be restored with a full permanent crown. If pulpal damage does occur, further dental treatment will be required.

Severe fractures often mean a traumatized tooth with slim chance of recovery.

Knocked out or displaced teeth
Quick action can save a knocked out tooth, prevent infection, and reduce the need for extensive dental treatment. Rinse the mouth with water and apply a cold compress to reduce swelling. Retrieve the tooth by the crown - not by the root. Do not scrub the root surface. Rinse it as best as possible and insert it into the socket. If you are unable to replace the tooth easily in its socket, place it in a container with a lid and use low-fat milk, saline solution, or saliva to cover it. Visit the dentist or the emergency room as soon as possible.

If your baby's tooth is knocked out, see your dentist, who may recommend a space maintainer to reserve the gap until the permanent tooth comes in. In instances where a primary tooth is loose because of the emergence of a permanent tooth, have the child wiggle the tooth or eat something hard, such as an apple to help it along. Once the shell of the tooth is disconnected from the root, the discomfort in extracting a loose primary tooth is minimal.

If a tooth is not fully knocked out, but just displaced, push it back into its original position and bite down so the tooth does not move. You’ll need to see your dentist as soon as possible. They may need to splint the tooth in place, using the two healthy teeth next to it.

Sports Injuries
Mouthguards can prevent many of the more common sports-related dental injuries. Care also needs to be taken around swimming pools. Running on slippery cement and ceramic pool surfaces can send for child headfirst into the ground, increasing the likelihood of a chipped or loose tooth. One common swimming pool accident occurs when children swimming underwater suddenly ascend, hitting the hard ledge and loosening the front tooth.