Emergency Dentist for a Child
Accidents happen with kids, and sometimes, these accidents involve a dental emergency. When a dental emergency happens and your child is involved, the best thing you can do as a parent, is be prepared. Being able to determine what counts as a dental emergency and knowing what your first steps should be in case of an emergency are essential to being able to act quickly. Here are some tips to help prepare you for the possible dental emergencies in your future.
Steps to quickly handle a dental emergency:
In reality, dealing with an oral injury is not much different than dealing with any injury. Here are the basic first steps you should take immediately:
- Control Bleeding. If there is bleeding in the mouth, try to control it immediately by applying pressure with a clean cloth.
- Clean the Wound. Once any bleeding is under control, clean up the wound with some clean water so you can see how serious the injury is.
- Assess the severity of the injury. Assessing the injury is a very critical step and will help you determine what is next. Important questions to address include: What is the level of pain? Were any teeth lost or damaged? Is bleeding excessive?
- Call your dentist. Once you have a completed an initial assessment, call your family dentist and get professional guidance on whether you need to seek out emergency services.
- Lost tooth? Try to save it! If a permanent tooth was lost, find the tooth immediately! A lost tooth can be saved if the proper steps are taken. First, try placing the tooth back in the socket. If you aren’t able to place the tooth back in the mouth, clean it, and place it in a glass of milk. Do your best to handle it as little as possible. If a permanent tooth is lost, go to a dentist immediately and bring the tooth along. The quicker you act the more likely the tooth will be saved.
Emergency Visits to the Dentist
If your child’s accident involves losing a tooth, excessive bleeding, or a laceration to the mouth, emergency dental services will be needed. Sometimes, however, it is not easy to determine if an accident is severe enough to need emergency services. Swelling or bleeding can make it even more difficult to determine how severe an injury is. Making a quick call to your dentist will get you the answers you need, whether it is determining if emergency services are required or where to go to find emergency services.
Other ways to be prepared
With active children the best way to always be prepared is to have a well-stocked first aid kit. The first aid items needed for a dental emergency are the same items you would need in the case of any emergency. If you have the following items, you will be prepared for most dental emergencies you come across:
- Sanitary gloves
- Clean gauze
- Small clean cup
- Compresses
- Small storage container for a tooth
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