A dental emergency is any situation that requires immediate attention to prevent long-term damage, alleviate pain, and/or save a tooth. Some common examples of dental emergencies include severe toothache, broken or knocked-out teeth, and injuries to the soft tissues of the mouth. Although preventing dental emergencies with routine dental care is always the best option, sometimes unforeseen problems arise. Recognizing when it’s time to seek immediate emergency dental treatment can help you minimize damage and get back to normal quickly.
Many dental problems are not considered emergencies and can be addressed during normal office hours, such as a persistent sore gum that is not accompanied by pain or swelling (e.g., gingivitis). However, if you experience unexplained pain in your mouth or jaw that is sudden and intense, this is likely indicative of an underlying issue and should be seen as an emergency by a dentist.
Dental emergencies are characterized by urgency and require immediate intervention to prevent further damage, relieve pain, and reduce the risk of systemic infection. The etiologies of these emergencies may be biologically or mechanically mediated, such as a pulpal infection or fracture of a tooth, or they can occur as a result of dental treatment, including tooth extraction, traumatic injury to the oral cavity, and complications from implant placement.
The most common symptom of a dental emergency is a toothache, which can be caused by a variety of factors including a loss of enamel that exposes the inner nerve, a bite problem, or an underlying health condition such as trigeminal neuralgia, diabetes, or heart disease. The severity of this type of pain can also vary depending on temperature—it can be sharp and stabbing or throbbing and burning.
A chipped or cracked tooth can break under pressure, such as when biting down on hard or crunchy foods or during sports and other activities. While this type of dental emergency is not life-threatening, it does need to be treated immediately so the tooth can be reshaped or repaired, preventing it from cracking further and exposing the root.
A knocked-out tooth can be reinserted by a dentist or saved with first aid measures, such as holding the tooth in place and applying a cold compress to ease pain. Attempting to reimplant a lost tooth on your own can result in further damage to the remaining healthy tooth, so it’s important to see the best emergency dentist Torrance, CA as soon as possible. In some cases, an untreated knocked-out tooth can cause infections, airway compromise, and even death. If you need a Torrance emergency dentist immediate help visit https://www.thetorrancedentist.net/.