How to Handle Dental Emergencies

Many people have dental emergencies. How well prepared are you?

Here are some quick tips for common dental emergencies.

• Loose braces bracket: Apply dental wax to the edge. Make an appointment with your orthodontist to repair during office hours.
• Braces wire irritation: Apply dental wax or cotton swabs to make the area comfortable until your orthodontist or dentist can examine.
• Broken tooth with root: Clean it off and have it placed back in the socket within 45 minutes. Preserve the tooth in milk or saliva. Get to a dentist or the emergency room immediately.
• Pain, blood or swelling: These indicate a true dental emergency. Call your dentist right away.
• Loose crown: Call your dentist to arrange re-cementing. 
• Broken filling: Call your dentist to arrange replacement.

Going to the emergency room for a non-urgent matter will be expensive. It’s wise to wait until your dentist’s office hours for anything that doesn’t have pain, blood or swelling.

Listen as Dr. Karson Kupiec joins Melanie Cole, MS, to advise on how to handle dental emergencies.