Here are answers to some commonly asked dental emergency questions. This is general advice not meant to take the place of a specific diagnosis and recommendation by a dentist. To get additional information or prompt assistance with your particular dental question call Emergency Dental Care USA of Des Moines at (515) 287-2006.

What can I do to ease a toothache?
If you’re having continual discomfort from a toothache here are some steps to take to resolve the problem or at least provide some temporary relief till getting to the dentist. Brush and floss your teeth to remove food fragments on and in-between your teeth. Rinse with warm water. If you have swelling on your gums, put a cold compress on the outside of your mouth. You should not put an aspirin or any other painkiller against the gums near the aching tooth because it can burn and cause damage to the gum tissue. If the pain perseveres, call to see a dentist as soon as possible.

How do I know if I have an abscessed tooth? What are the symptoms?
In short, an abscessed tooth is extremely painful. It is an infection inside your tooth or in your gum that brings on a throbbing ache. An abscessed tooth is most often caused by a damaged tooth, an untreated cavity or gum disease. Bacteria move into the tooth interior “pulp” to start the infection. “Abscess” literally means a localized collection of pus surrounded by inflamed tissue. If left untreated the infection could spread which leads to loosing the tooth or experiencing other health problems. Typical symptoms of an abscessed tooth include:

• A severe headache and a moderate to high fever
• Throbbing pain, especially while chewing
• Having a salty, bad taste in your mouth
• Gums that are red and swollen
• Your jaw and face are swelled up
• A little bump or gumboil on either side of your gums that resembles the size of a pimple

How does a root canal treat an abscessed tooth?
A “root canal” is the treatment used to treat and save a tooth that is abscessed. Your dentist first will administer antibiotics to kill the bacteria causing the infection of the abscessed tooth. However, the source of the infection must still be removed. So your dentist will need to drill into the infected tooth or gum to drain the infectious pus.

Your dentist will then want to evaluate what damaged has been in tooth’s interior pulp. The pulp is the soft tissue that holds the blood vessels, nerves and connective tissue and extends from the tooth’s crown down to the root within the jaw bone.

While before it was almost certain that an abscessed tooth would need to be removed, today, a dentist can do a root canal treatment to remove the infected pulp and save the tooth. If however, the exam reveals that the interior is beyond repair, the dentist will skip a root canal and instead remove, or extract, the tooth.

What’s a tooth extraction? Is that painful?
Having a tooth removed is referred to as an “extraction”. Your dentist may feel an extraction is necessary if repairing a damaged tooth just isn’t practical. The tooth may be malpositioned, infected with advanced periodontal disease, or has become a nonfunctional tooth.

Your dentist will numb the area around the selected tooth using a local anesthetic to avoid pain and lessen the discomfort. It’s normal to have a small amount of bleeding during and after the extraction. For the 24 hours after your extraction you should drink from a straw and only rinse gently so as not to disturb the clot. You can brush and floss all the other teeth except for near the extracted tooth socket. If you do experience any pain after the extraction apply a cold cloth or an ice bag on the gums near the socket.

How would I know if I have a cracked tooth? What can I do?
If you bite down and feel a sudden, sharp pain in your mouth that goes away as quickly as it stung, you could be experiencing the symptoms of a cracked tooth. Until you see a dentist, one of the best preventions from aggravating the cracked tooth is to avoid eating hard foods and to chew on the opposite side of your mouth.

A cracked tooth is caused by a number of reasons, including—

• biting on a hard objects such as hard candy, ice, nuts or even a carrot
• grinding or clenching teeth (especially when sleeping)
• a severe hit to the mouth that impacts one of your teeth
• exposing tooth to sudden temperature swings—i.e. immediately going from a hot to a cold drink
• stress or brittleness of tooth from an earlier treatment such as a root canal

Spotting the crack on the tooth can be challenging as some hairline fractures are very small to be seen by the eye or even by an x-ray. By asking the right questions and probing the dentist should be able to determine if and where you have a cracked tooth. Depending on the size or location of the crack, the dentist can treat it with a special bonding. If it appears the cracked tooth has caused the inner pulp to become infected, a root canal may be necessary.

What happens if my tooth breaks or gets knocked out?
It can happen in car accident, a bike accident or even a freak accident by playing a contact sport or doing physically intensive work when a tooth gets broken or knocked out. If it does happen, seek emergency dental treatment immediately. For a broken tooth, rinse your mouth with warm water to clean the area. Use cold compresses on the area to keep any swelling down till you get to the dentist.

If a tooth gets knocked out completely, it’s imperative to get to the dentist quickly. Be careful not to touch the root of the tooth to contaminate it. Hold the tooth by the crown. If the tooth is contaminated, rinse it gently with clean saline or water—don’t scrub it. Put the tooth in a container of milk and try to get to a dentist within 30 minutes. The dentist will want to properly implant the tooth right away. The longer the tooth is out of its socket the more likely your gum may reject it as a foreign object. If you can’t get to a dentist within 30 – 45 minutes, rinse off the tooth and gently place the tooth back into the socket. Avoid eating and get to the dentist as soon as possible.

How can I remove an object caught between my teeth?
If you should get a piece of food or any small object wedged between your teeth, first try to gently remove the object with dental floss. Never use anything sharp like a pin around your teeth as it may cut your gums or damage your tooth. If it can’t be removed by dental floss, contact a dentist for advice or to schedule an appointment.

What happens if I lose a tooth filling?
If you loose a filling, call to get into a dentist at the soonest available time. In the meanwhile, there are a couple of short-term remedies you can try. Inquire at your pharmacy about some over-the-counter dental cements available to use as a temporary stop gap. A piece of sugar-free gum can also be applied into the cavity until you see your dentist. Just be sure the gum is sugarless as even a little sugar put into the cavity will hurt!