Typically the symptoms and pain you experience from a dental emergency would not allow you to spend another minute without seeking immediate medical attention. At Encino Dentist, we handle any type of dental emergency you may have. Our emergency dentists use modern technological equipment to cover a range of treatments that relieve pain, symptoms and prevent any further harm to your dental health in the shortest time possible.

What Problems Qualify To Be Dental Emergencies?

A dental emergency is a condition that needs the immediate attention of a professional dentist.  As soon as you contact us, we will schedule a meeting with you so that we can determine the treatment you need. We treat different types of dental emergencies:

  • Severe prolonged toothache and any other tooth pain
  • A broken or chipped tooth
  • A tooth that is knocked out
  • A fractured or cracked tooth
  • A partially extruded (knocked-out) tooth
  • Objects stuck between teeth
  • Broken jaws
  • Restoration of a lost dental e.g. a lost crown or filling
  • Damaged mouth tissues which include the soft tissues of the cheeks, lips, tongue, and gums

If you have suffered a neck or head trauma, we advise that you see your general doctor or visit the emergency room before seeing our dentists.

What to Do In Case of a Knocked Out Tooth

If your tooth is knocked out, try locating it and handle it as carefully as possible. Clean it using cold water to remove any dirt. Do not use soap or scrub it while cleaning. Try placing the tooth back in its socket and hold it in place using gauze.

If it doesn’t hold in position, put it in a container/glass containing milk or saliva and bring it with you to our offices. Sometimes, we can replant knocked-out teeth if you seek immediate medical attention. If your socket is bleeding, use gauze or a cold tea bag to help stop the bleeding. Also, be cautious not to touch the root as you can damage or infect it by the germs on your hands.

Preventing a tooth Knockout

Your teeth are precious. You should take care of them and protect them. Here are some of the tips you can follow;

  • Don’t open packages using your teeth
  • Always use a bottle opener to open bottle tops instead of using your teeth
  • Don’t chew popcorn kernels, hard candy, and ice with your teeth. All these can crack your teeth

In case you realize or think that you might be endangering your teeth, visit your dentist and get a mouth guard. This minimizes the probability of damaging them. It provides good protection when engaging in sporting events and other rough recreational activities since it can protect your teeth from damage when you fall or come in contact with another person. Note that putting on a mouth guard not only minimizes the likelihood of injuring your teeth but also protects the tongue, cheek, jaws, and lips. Wearing it might be a little weird in the beginning but it provides much better protection and keeps you from losing a tooth

Toothaches

Toothaches are a common issue for most people in Encino. The sensitivity you feel in your teeth may turn into a severe toothache. Well, you should not blame yourself that you let it escalate to this point because you probably didn’t realize it would get that serious. Plus, if you are in this condition, you should not be scared. Sometimes you may have the best routine for oral hygiene but you still may experience toothaches.

A toothache could mean that you have several dental issues. A dentist is the only person that can diagnose the ailment and treat it before your dental health is highly affected. In case you are experiencing a toothache, you should seek the help of a dentist as soon as possible so that your pain can be relieved. 

Toothaches may range from continuous discomforts to severe pain. Regardless of the degree of pain, a toothache could affect your well-being greatly. For instance, you may find it difficult to eat or sleep, you may not be able to attend to your daily duties and it may be a hindrance to your normal social life. The more the time passes without treating your dental ailment, the worse the toothache may get. Home toothache medications like painkillers may just be effective for a short time but the dental problem won’t be fixed. If the pain is so unbearable, visit a dentist as soon as you can.

What Makes a Toothache a Dental Emergency?

A toothache can be as a result of serious mouth infections or abscesses. If it is not treated for a long time, the condition can be life-threatening. A toothache can become a dental emergency in case you have facial swelling, a fever, severe pain, and bumps on gums. We will assess the pain and treat it accordingly. The treatment may include tooth extraction, pain relievers or any appropriate care.

Tooth Decay

Tooth decay goes by many names. For example, it is known as dental caries, cavities or baby bottle tooth decay. No matter the name you call it by, tooth decay is not pleasant. It is a mouth disease which damages your teeth. This is the second most common disease that affects most of the people after a common cold. The elderly and children are the most vulnerable to tooth decay. Most people in Encino have experienced tooth decay at one point or another and is the main reason for tooth loss.

What Causes Tooth Decay?

This condition is mainly caused by what food we consume and the way we take care of our teeth. It results from the accumulation of dental plaque microorganisms. Plaque refers to a tacky, film-like element which frequently forms on your teeth and keeps bacteria. When these bacteria combine with sugary or starchy foods, they generate acids which attack teeth.

In case you don’t remove this plaque, it will turn into dental calculus or dental coating which is a hardened plaque deposit on the teeth and below the gums. However, you cannot remove plaque by yourself regardless of how hard and frequently you brush. When the plaque stays on your teeth for long, it develops into a breeding point for more bacteria. The bacteria continue to generate acids that affect teeth. At the end of it, the tooth enamel is broken down, resulting in holes in the teeth referred to as cavities.

The Importance of Tooth Decay Photographs

Before curing tooth decay, a dentist has to first diagnose it. Tooth sensitivity might be an indication that you are developing a cavity. A toothache, on the other hand, is a symptom of a cavity that has advanced to the center of the tooth. If you do not experience any discomfort, do not assume that all is good with your dental health. This is because a cavity is normally painless and you may not notice any signs until a major section of the tooth has been destroyed.

Dentists check tooth decay signs during frequent dental visits. The initial stages are hard to notice especially with naked eyes. Thus, dental X-rays usually generate tooth decay photographs which aid in proper diagnosis. The tooth decay photos pinpoint tooth decay between teeth as well as locate plaque below the gum line. Creation of cavity pictures takes a very short time and it isn’t painful. After your dentist views these tooth decay photos, they can then treat you accordingly. 

Baby Bottle Tooth Decay

Cavities are widespread in children, thus, a major issue that parents have to deal with. It begins in the early stages of infancy when you feed the infant with sugary substances like juice on regular occasions. The more you expose your child to these substances, the higher the danger they are in of developing baby bottle tooth decay. The most convenient and simplest approach to help avoid the decay is through maintaining the cleanliness of your baby’s mouth. Also, do not let your baby fall asleep while a bottle is in the mouth.

To prevent tooth decay in children, dental sealants and fluoride are the commonly used substances. Fluoride is used to strengthen teeth and it is usually added to supplies of public water and toothpaste. A sealant is a colorless plastic coating which is applied onto molars to shield them from plaque formation.

How Do You Treat Tooth Decay?

The only appropriate way to treat a cavity is by seeing a professional dentist. If the problem hasn’t advanced, we will replace your tooth with a tooth filling. However, if the decay is beyond filling (if it is too large), it might be essential to use a dental crown.

Even though you can find a tooth decay cure, we advise that you do everything you can to avoid it. The first thing you should do is maintain oral hygiene. That is, brush twice in a day using fluoride toothpaste. This helps get rid of plaque. In addition, flossing every day will help prevent a cavity from developing between the teeth. Balance your diet and keep it low-sugar. This also helps protect yourself from plaque accumulation. Additionally, during regular dental cleaning sessions, your dentist will elaborate more on the causes of a cavity and the prevention measures you can take.

Emergency Tooth Extraction

What It Is

While the teeth of an adult should last his/her whole life, this is not always the case. In case your tooth is decayed or so damaged that it cannot be treated, an emergency tooth extraction may be the only solution, especially if you are experiencing a lot of pain. Sometimes it is possible to repair teeth with fillings or crowns, but when this cannot happen, emergency tooth extraction is unavoidable.

What Could Make You to Have an Emergency Tooth Extraction?

There are several factors that can lead to an emergency tooth extraction such as:

  • Gum disease
  • Root cracks or fractures
  • An abscess around the tooth or on the gums
  • A serious tooth decay otherwise referred to as caries
  • An impacted wisdom tooth. This is when the wisdom tooth gets stuck in the gum because it cannot break your gum surface
  • Crowded teeth. This is when teeth don’t fit in the mouth because they are so big
  • A damaged or broken tooth that can’t be repaired
  • Trauma to the jaw

In case you have a tooth that is escalating your danger of infection, then its extraction may be necessary because it is dangerous in itself as well as increases the chances of infection to the teeth close to it.

Symptoms to Look Out for to Know You Require an Emergency Tooth Extraction

We have several signs that could show you have to undergo emergency tooth extraction. If you notice any of these symptoms, you should seek medical attention immediately.

  • Tooth pain
  • Severe tooth sensitivity
  • Painful gums
  • Loose, unstable or wriggling teeth
  • Presence of pus or a white fluid in the mouth
  • Discoloration or darkening of your teeth
  • A swelling such that opening your mouth becomes difficult
  • If your mouth has a prolonged awful taste

How Emergency Tooth Extraction Works

The procedure for this varies depending on where the tooth is located and how severe the damage is. Generally, the steps are as follows;

  • The area surrounding your teeth is injected with a local sedative
  • It takes a few minutes for the anesthetic to work. After it takes effect, your mouth becomes numb
  • During this process, your dentist widens your tooth socket
  • The dentist rocks the tooth from one side to the other side until it loosens enough to be extracted

You might experience slight pressure during this process. However, you should not feel too much pain that it becomes discomforting. If the procedure is painful, you should notify your dentist immediately to avoid any more damage.

What Happens After Tooth Extraction?

After the process, you might experience slight bleeding of your gums. You may also notice a little bit of swelling and experience some dull pain. These symptoms are completely normal. However, if they haven’t stopped after about 24 hours, you should call and inquire from your dentist. The entire period of healing normally takes about a week. Thus, it may not be necessary for you to be overly concerned before the period ends. You can help yourself recover by keeping away from eating hard foods. Also, apply an ice pack on the outside of your mouth.

Tips to Help You When Experiencing Tooth Pain

Dental abscess. Immediately contact an emergency dentist. If it remains untreated, a dental abscess can cause severe infection. Remember to rinse your mouth using a mildly salty solution. The quantity should be a half teaspoon of salt in a little amount of water (preferably 8 ounces) and you should do this several times in a day.

A lost filling. Cover the exposed cavity temporarily using a small bit of sugarless gum. You can also use dental cement which is found over the counter.

Toothache. Clean your mouth using warm water and floss to get rid of food particles. In case you have any swelling, hold a cold compress around the area.

Loose crown. In case you experience a loose crown or if it detaches, try to carefully slip it back to its position. First, apply either dental cement, toothpaste or denture adhesive on the inside part of the crown. If it doesn’t work, come to us with the crown so we can attach it back.

Broken Tooth. Preserve all the broken tooth pieces and rinse the mouth using warm water to eliminate any fragments that may be left. Hold a cold compress around the area.

How to Prevent a Dental Emergency

It is not easy for healthy, strong teeth to be damaged by a cavity, neither is it possible for it to develop abscesses or infections. Going for a dental checkup and mouth cleaning after every 6 months is the best routine practice for your dental health. It is at this time that minor problems get dealt with right away, leaving the teeth strong and healthy. In addition, regularly brush and floss using the recommended technique.

Teeth grinding is also another habit that can harm your teeth. This is mostly a result of anxiety and it may begin without you realizing it. Most people do it while sleeping. Whether you do it consciously or unconsciously, this habit can cause severe dental problems which may include chipped teeth, damaged enamel, and pain in the jaw muscles. In case you find yourself with a teeth grinding problem, try doing relaxation practices like yoga or meditation or invest in a night guard.

Find an Emergency Dentist Near Me

Tooth pain should not be ignored no matter how slight the pain is. If you or your loved one in Encino, CA has sustained an injury that is affecting the teeth or if you think you have any sort of mouth infection, contact us as soon as possible. At Encino Dentist, our aim is to help you maintain your dental health. Our dental services can provide quick relief. We value time when it comes to repairing and saving damaged teeth. Call us at 818-650-0429 and we will schedule you an appointment immediately.