How To Tell If You Need Emergency Dental Services

17 June 2022
 Categories: Dentist, Blog

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Regular trips to the dentist are important for protecting your health and smile. Despite your best efforts to stay ahead of problems, things can happen that call for emergency dental care. If you're not sure whether your situation demands emergency dental services, you can tell by checking for these 5 signs.

Loose Teeth

Teeth simply should always be seated well in their sockets. If a tooth is loose for any reason, that's bad. Even if you didn't suffer any specific injury, ask an emergency dentist to look at what's going on. They might simply give you a cold compress for the swelling, but it's better to know there isn't a problem than to risk finding out there is one during your next scheduled visit.

Facial Pain

One of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to emergency dental care is assuming it only involves teeth and the mouth. If your kid suffers head-to-head contract during a soccer match, for example, they may experience facial pain without anything involving their teeth. However, this could be a sign of a maxillofacial injury. They may experience pain around the cheeks or eyes because something around their mouth's palate was damaged. Left unattended, these injuries can lead to long-term chronic pain and even infections.

Motions Issues when Speaking or Eating

Your mouth should have a fairly normal motion. If you develop difficulty moving your mouth while speaking or eating, there could be something wrong. Bear in mind that this isn't limited to jaw pain or the inability to open your mouth. The alignment of your bite could be knocked out of alignment by an injury. A dentist can see what's happening and decide what to do next.

Teeth Fragments

Pieces of the teeth can come out due to long-standing or sudden problems. You might have suffered a light blow to the mouth during a fall and not thought much about it until a third of one of your premolars pops off, for example. Similarly, underlying long-term problems like deep dental caries may not become evident until something breaks. Also, some treated teeth, such as ones with fillings, may fail suddenly. In all these scenarios, emergency dental care is necessary to save the tooth.

Unexpected Bumps

The human mouth isn't the most even of surfaces. However, you should have an idea of which bumps belong there and which ones do not. If you feel an unexpected bump, usually with your tongue, it's a sign of something. It could be a dental infection, but it may be something as bad as oral cancer. 

For more information, contact a local office like Cruz Davis Family and Cosmetic Dentistry.