Any type of trauma to the mouth that can cause lacerations and bleeding to the gums or cause any type of damage to the teeth may need immediate dental attention. Any type of emergency dental problems can arise anytime and these need to be immediately solved. Mouth injuries caused due to any accident can cause teeth to break, crack or knocked out. It is very important to see a dentist immediately as any untreated dental emergency or problem can cause serious complications.

Tips to avoid dental emergencies

Avoid hard foods

Hard food like hard candies can cause the tooth to crack easily. Thus hard foods should be highly avoided especially by children to prevent the teeth injuries.

Wearing a Mouthguard

While playing any contact sport, everyone must always wear a mouth guard as wearing a protective mouth guard can avoid teeth injury and trauma.

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Often when people face any kind of dental emergency then they become unsure what should they do or who should they call. Some dental emergencies require immediate treatment while others can wait to be treated. Various common dental emergencies include injured jaw, painful toothache, painful swelling, bleeding that does not stop and a loose or knocked-out tooth. All these types of dental emergencies should be treated immediately and in a correct way. In the case of the non-urgent dental emergencies, the dental supervision should be taken as soon as possible. Some examples of non-urgent dental emergencies include a dull toothache, lost bridge or crown, food lodged between teeth, cracked or broken teeth.

Emergency Dental Care

Lip or tongue bite with excessive bleeding – If accidentally bite his tongue, lip or other soft tissue, then immediately clean the area and apply a cold compress for decreasing the swelling. The need for going to the emergency room arises if the bleeding does not stop.

Cracked or broken tooth – In the case of the cracked or broken tooth, go to the dentist immediately. Before visiting the dentist, rinse the mouth with hot water and put a cold compress on the affected area.

Damaged braces – Call the orthodontist for the damaged braces right away. Some cases of damaged braces required immediate attention, while others can be treated later.

Injury to the Jaw – The injured or broken jaw is an emergency dental problem and this need to be treated immediately by the dentist. On finding the injured jaw, visit the dentist quickly without wasting time.

Loose tooth – If any of the teeth seems partially dislodged, then see the dentist right away. If it causes pain then take the pain reliever until you reached the dentist office.

Loose filling or crown – If the filling or crown falls out, the first put the filling in any safe place and then visit the visit. The tooth sensitivity, in this case, can be decreased by using dental cement from the drug store.

A severe toothache – For any type of severe or a sudden toothache, rinse the mouth with warm water and floss the teeth to make sure there is nothing lodged between the teeth.

Professional teeth cleaning procedure during dental visit

A professional tooth cleaning is done by a dentist for removing plaque and calculus that built on the teeth with time. People who properly brush and floss their teeth on regular basis generally do not suffer from any discomfort during the cleaning process. But those who do not practice healthy teeth cleaning habits may experience some sensitivity or discomfort during the professional dental cleaning. In the teeth cleaning procedure, the dentist uses various specialized instruments for removing the harmful deposits without causing any harm to the teeth. Some of the instruments which are used in the dental cleaning include ultrasonic instrument, fine hand tools, polishing, and fluoride.

How often should you get your teeth cleaned?

The American Dental Association recommends that every person must visit the dentist at least once in a year for professional dental cleaning. People with the history of the periodontal disease should make more dental visits so as to prevent the recurrence of disease or infection. Anyone who suffers from various chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease should also clean their teeth more frequently. People with regular smoking habit should consider quitting it as smoking marks permanent stains on the teeth.

During a dental visit for teeth cleaning, a patient generally receives preventive and diagnostic services from the dentist.

Diagnostic services may include:

Evaluation of gum tissue
Checking biting, chewing and swallowing patterns
Referral to specialists for specific treatment
X-rays or examination of teeth to detect decay
Oral cancer examination and screening

Preventive services may include:

Fluoride application
Removal of plaque and tartar
Sealants (for children)
Cleaning and adjustment of dentures and partial dentures
Stain removal
Polishing teeth, including fillings and crowns

Educational services may include:

Tooth brushing and flossing instructions
Tobacco cessation counseling
Nutritional counseling
Evaluation of self-care effectiveness

Deep teeth cleaning process

Deep teeth cleaning is also known as the root planning and scaling in the dental world. Scaling process includes the removal of tartar and plaque from the teeth surface and the pocket area between the gums and teeth. The dentists use either ultrasonic or electric instruments or manual scaling tools for performing scaling and root planning. Scaling instruments are generally used by the dentist for removing tartar and plaque from the roots of the teeth.

What to expect during the dental visit?

A thorough cleaning – In the thorough cleaning procedure, the dentist scrape along and below the gum line for the purpose of removing built-in tartar and plaque which can cause cavities, gum disease, bad breath, and various other problems. After this, the polishing and flossing of the teeth are done.

A full dental examination – The full detailed examination of the teeth is done by the dentist for finding the signs of any disease or other problem.

X-Rays – X-Rays can easily diagnose the problems that remain unnoticed by the dentist like impacted teeth, jawbone, abscesses, tumors or cysts and decay between the teeth.