Steps to Take Before Visiting an Austin Emergency Dentist

If you damage a tooth or wake up with a sudden toothache, you need the help of an Austin emergency dentist. There is no reason for you to live with dental discomfort, excessive bleeding or pain when you can visit our dental office right away. We do not make you wait for Monday morning when you damage a tooth on the weekend, nor do we make you wait two or three weeks to schedule an appointment as is common with many dentist offices. We understand that when you have a dental emergency, it requires immediate care and that your local emergency room is simply not going to be able to provide the level of care you need. This is not because of their lack of skill but a lack of training in dental sciences. We have the skill, expertise, and time to treat you right away. For this reason, anytime that you have a dental emergency we encourage you to call our office.

Steps to Take Before Coming In

We will schedule you for an appointment as quickly as possible. In the meantime, you may be dealing with excessive bleeding or discomfort so it is important to understand what steps you can take at home before coming in.

If you damaged your tooth, the first step is to rinse with warm water. There is likely to be blood in your mouth and you need to be able to rinse and spit it out so that you can begin to assess the level of damage. Be careful to watch what you are spitting out because if a piece of your tooth is chipped off or an entire tooth has been knocked out, it may be possible to restore it, so you are going to want to save it. For example, if a tooth gets knocked out you can lightly rinse it off and place it in a glass of milk before driving to our office. As an Austin emergency dentist, we may be able to reattach it.

If the bleeding does not stop after you rinse your mouth with warm water, you can use gauze or a clean rag in order to help put pressure on the area and stop the bleeding. Most emergency kits will have some gauze in them so this should be fairly easy to secure.

To address any pain or discomfort that you are feeling, you can take Ibuprofen but be aware and do not take aspirin. Aspirin is a blood thinner and that is the last thing you want when you have damaged your teeth or gums. The goal is to stop the bleeding and not to create a situation where you could bleed more. Next, you can use a cold compress or ice pack and place it on your face and the area where you are experiencing dental damage. This will help to reduce or prevent swelling and also help you to feel better. Just use the ice for fifteen minutes at a time and be sure not to place it directly on your skin without a cloth or paper towel in between.

Above all, remain calm and visit an Austin emergency dentist as quickly as possible.  With fast appointment times, we make it possible to do so.