If you have an emergency dental problem that requires immediate attention, it’s important to find the right Emergency Dentist in Kansas City MO. You can do this by using a website like Emergency Dental Service to find the nearest 24-hour Emergency Dentist in Kansas City MO to you.
Dental emergencies can be very painful and scary. However, there are steps you can take to help relieve the pain and prevent further damage.
Toothache
Regardless of your best efforts to practice good oral hygiene and have regular dental appointments, you can still get toothaches from time to time. Toothaches are a warning sign that something is wrong, so it is important to see your dentist as soon as possible.
A toothache can be caused by a variety of things, including gum disease, food stuck between teeth, bruxism (teeth grinding), or the presence of an abscess. Sometimes, a toothache may be accompanied by other symptoms such as bleeding in the mouth or jaw, swelling, and pain when eating.
If a tooth is knocked out, it needs emergency care within 2 hours in order to have a chance of being re-inserted into its socket. Until you can find a 24-Hour Dentist, rinse the tooth gently with cold or salty water to remove any visible debris or blood and take an over the counter pain reliever as needed.
Broken or Loose Wires in Braces
Whether they are part of traditional braces or a combination of palatal expanders, power chains, and aligners, orthodontic appliances need to be carefully maintained to ensure proper treatment. If a wire breaks or is loose, call your orthodontist right away and schedule a special appointment for repair. Failure to do so could prolong your treatment and cause more discomfort.
Power chain braces use a string of linked rubber bands to exert more force and speed up the movement of teeth than standard ligatures, which are made of small elastics called o-shaped rubber bands. If a power chain breaks, it can cause the teeth to become more crooked, so it is important that you contact your orthodontist and cover the area with dental wax as soon as possible.
If a tooth does break off or falls out, pick it up by the crown and not the root. This will allow you to save the tooth for an emergency appointment with your dentist.
Tooth Injury
A tooth injury can be a painful experience, but it doesn’t always require treatment in the emergency room. In cases of tooth trauma, the dentist may decide to perform a root canal to treat an infection. Root canal therapy involves completely numbing the affected area, removing the infected tissue, disinfecting & filling empty canals with a rubber-like material & sealing the tooth to prevent further infection.
A cracked or chipped tooth can be treated by reattaching the broken piece or by placing a dental filling or crown. Dental fillings are molded into place, while onlays & inlays must be fabricated & fitted to the tooth before they can be placed.
Mary was born & raised in Wichita, KS & is happy to be back. She enjoys the challenge dentistry provides & loves knowing she can make a difference in patients’ lives. When she’s not at work, she enjoys spending time with her family & her Goldendoodle.
Broken or Broken Tooth
A cracked or broken tooth can leave the inside of your mouth vulnerable to infection. In most cases, it’s best to protect a damaged tooth by using restorative options like dental crowns or dental bridges. Dental crowns cover a damaged tooth like a cap. We use them to repair teeth with significant decay, to restore a tooth with a large filling, and to replace a missing tooth when combined with dental implants.
Cracked teeth can be caused by biting down on hard objects, trauma, or clenching and grinding your teeth. The most common type of cracked tooth is a vertical furcation crack that exposes the nerve and can be painful.
Cosmetic bonding and porcelain veneers can be used to repair smaller chips or breaks in the front of your mouth. For back teeth that need to withstand more force, we may recommend an inlay or onlay instead of a regular tooth-colored filling. In the worst-case scenario, we will perform an extraction if the crack is too severe to save the tooth.