Five Ways to Help Your Child Through Dental Emergencies
Kid’s emergencies can happen at any time, especially dental emergencies. Dental emergencies tend to happen more frequently during summer or vacations when kids are active and participating in physical activities such as playing sports, jumping on a trampoline and riding bikes. During an emergency, it is critical that you as a parent remain calm and reassure your child that everything will be ok. The following will outline five common dental injuries and how you should react if they happen in your family.
Cold Sore or Canker Sore
A lot of children will suffer occasionally from cold or canker sores. Most of the time, over-the-counter remedies can provide your child some relief. It is important to remember that these over-the-counter medicines take time to work and have the sores fully heal. For most canker sore remedies, it takes about 7-10 days to fully heal. If your child’s sore is still present, it is important to have them evaluated by a dental professional because many oral diseases begin as sores in the mouth.
Knocked Out Permanent Tooth
When a child gets a permanent tooth knocked out, it is important that you try to find the tooth. If you can locate it, do not clean or handle the tooth more than necessary. Place the tooth in a cup of milk, since water can actually damage the tooth so that the pediatric dentist cannot place the natural tooth in your child’s mouth. Time is a critical factor and it is vital to get to the dentist immediately. Ideally, the tooth that got knocked out should be re-implanted within 30 minutes of being knocked out.
Cut or Bitten Tongue, Lip or Cheek
If there is any bleeding, apply gentle but firm pressure on the cut. If after continued pressure for 15 minutes the bleeding does not stop, take your child to the emergency room. Apply ice to the child’s bruised area.
Broken Tooth
Rinse and clean the child’s injured area with warm water. Look at the area where the tooth is broken and see if the tooth has shifted out of position or bleeding. If it is, it is critical that your child be taken to a dentist immediately. While on your way to the dentist, place a cold compression on the your child’s face where the injured area is.
Toothache
First, clean the area of the painful tooth with warm water. Afterwards, floss that tooth and neighboring teeth in order to remove all of the food debris. If your child’s face is swollen, place a cold compression on his face and make an appointment to see the dentist. It is important to not put aspirin on the gum by the painful tooth. A spread of infection can be dangerous for a young person and could lead to very serious health issues.
As stated before, it is critical that you remain calm if your child is going through a dental emergency. It is important to act quickly because a lot of emergencies can be handled a lot better if treated immediately. If you have any questions on what you should do in emergency situations, talk to your dentist about it.
