Lost Filling or Crown

Is a Lost Filling or Crown a Dental Emergency?: Crowns and fillings can have long lifespans when they receive the proper care, but they can eventually break or fall off the tooth. You don’t need to see the dentist immediately if this happens, but you should schedule an appointment as soon as possible; the tooth will be at greater risk the longer the restoration is gone.

How You Should Handle a Lost Filling or Crown: Locate the restoration, rinse it off, and bring it with you to our office. You can use a bit of dental cement to reattach a dental crown, although this solution will only last for a short time and is simply meant to give the tooth some protection until it’s time for your appointment.

How We Treat Lost Fillings or Crowns: A relatively new or undamaged filling and crown can sometimes be recemented back to the tooth, which is why you should always save your restoration when possible. Of course, there’s also the option of simply getting a new one if the old restoration has been lost or is too damaged to use anymore.

Learn More About Dental Crowns

Knocked-Out Tooth

Is My Knocked-Out Tooth a Dental Emergency?: The baby teeth fall out on their own eventually, but the permanent teeth are supposed to stay attached to the jaw for the rest of your life. Having a tooth knocked out is always an emergency, and it is one that requires immediate attention if you want to save the tooth in question. As soon as there is an accident that leaves you with a gap (or multiple gaps) in your smile, call our office immediately to schedule an appointment. You should get to our office in less than an hour to have the best chance of having the tooth successfully reimplanted.

How You Should Handle a Knocked-Out Tooth: Step one is to find the tooth immediately. Pick it up, but make sure to only touch the crown (the part used for chewing). Gently rinse off any dirt, but do not scrub the tooth or remove any tissue that’s still attached. To preserve a knocked-out tooth, either put it back in its socket or store it in a sealed container filled with milk or saline.

How We Treat Knocked-Out Teeth: As long as the tooth isn’t too badly damaged, we can try to reimplant it. If it’s properly placed back in its socket, it will reintegrate with the jawbone over time. But if it has been outside of the mouth for too long or is beyond salvaging, it will need to be replaced with a bridge, denture, or dental implant.

Very Sensitive Teeth

Are Very Sensitive Teeth a Dental Emergency?: Tooth can become sensitive for various reasons. Some are non-urgent, but sensitivity that becomes severe, lasts for multiple consecutive days, or only affects one or two teeth should be considered a potential emergency, as it’s a likely sign of cracked teeth, deep cavities, and similar problems.

How You Should Handle Very Sensitive Teeth: Call our office and let us know what symptoms you’re experiencing, such as how severe your sensitivity is and what seems to trigger it. We may recommend an emergency appointment depending on what you’re experiencing. Lukewarm water and painkillers can help you manage your discomfort in the meantime.

How We Treat Very Sensitive Teeth: Since sensitive teeth tend to be the side effect of other dental problems, the way we treat them will depend on what the underlying cause is. Possible solutions include desensitizing toothpaste, prescription mouthwash, or topical fluoride therapy. If we find signs of gum disease or a tooth infection, we may recommend periodontal therapy or a root canal.

Cracked Tooth

Is a cracked tooth a dental emergency? Not only are cracked teeth alarming and often painful, but they require treatment as quickly as possible. Your enamel protects the pulp of your tooth, so once it’s been damaged, the tooth is left vulnerable to further injury and serious infection. We will want to see you as quickly as possible to treat your cracked or broken tooth.

How you should handle a cracked tooth: First, rinse your mouth out with water to clean the area. Then, use an ice pack or take over-the-counter pain relivers to manage swelling or discomfort until we can see you. If possible, it’s best to refrain from eating until we can treat you, but if you must eat, take great care not to chew on the injured side of your mouth.

How we treat cracked teeth: Very minor damage can often be corrected with cosmetic bonding, while severely damaged teeth may need to be extracted. However, the most common treatment for a broken tooth is a custom-made dental crown. We are proud to offer metal-free dental crowns for beautiful and healthy results. Plus, with our E4D technology, we can create your crown in a single appointment!

Chipped Tooth

Is a chipped tooth a dental emergency?  In most cases, a chipped tooth does not require immediate attention but instead can be treated at the next available appointment. However, even if the chip is small or not bothering you, it should still be treated in a timely fashion. Remember, enamel cannot heal itself, so the longer a chipped tooth goes without repair, the higher the risk is of sustaining further damage that requires more complex treatment.

How you should handle a chipped tooth: Gently rinse your mouth with water. Try to find as many pieces of the tooth that you can and put them in a safe container to bring with you to your appointment. If needed, a cold compress can help manage any pain or swelling. Should the remaining tooth have a jagged edge or feel sensitive, it can be covered with some sugarless gum or dental wax.

How we treat chipped teeth: Fortunately, chipped teeth can often be quickly and easily repaired. The most common way to do so is with cosmetic dental bonding, wherein a tooth-colored composite resin will be molded and polished over the damaged area until it looks good as new. If you’ve chipped one of your front teeth and are highly concerned about aesthetics, you may want to consider getting one or more veneers for optimal results.

Toothaches

Is my toothache a dental emergency? Minor toothaches are most commonly caused by cavities, and can typically wait until your next appointment to be treated. However, if you have a serious toothache, swelling, or a pimple-like bump on your gums, it’s likely that you have an infection within your tooth. It’s very important to get treatment right away, so call us immediately for an emergency appointment.

How you should handle a toothache: First, check to see if the pain is caused by something stuck between the teeth that can be removed with regular dental floss or a gentle rinse. If you can’t stop the discomfort this way, use a bag of ice or pain relievers to manage your toothache until we can perform an examination.

How we treat toothaches: How we treat your toothache will depend on what’s causing it. Some toothaches can be treated with simple solutions like a filling, crown, or nightguard. However, some will need more drastic treatment, such as root canal therapy or a tooth extraction.