Dental Emergency

C & C Dentistry offers dental emergency care for you and your family. We know that dental emergencies are unpredictable, so if you have a dental emergency, call us immediately and we’ll do everything we can to see you the very same day. Our caring and compassionate staff is prepared to offer assistance from the minute you walk in the door and make you feel more comfortable.

Whether you’ve been to C & C Dentistry before or not, all you have to do is give us a call to receive an emergency dental exam. Our emergency dentistry exam includes an inspection of the affected area and a consultation with a dental professional on the recommended course of action.

Toothaches

A toothache can have any number of causes, including tooth decay, abscessed tooth, tooth fracture, damaged filling, grinding teeth or infected gums. Symptoms typically include tooth pain, swelling around the tooth, and fever or headache. Toothaches can be a sign of a major dental emergency. You should definitely call us if you have a toothache that lasts longer than 1 or 2 days, if your toothache is severe, or if you have a fever, earache, or pain upon opening your mouth wide.

Chipped or Broken Tooth

Enamel is strong, but it has its limits. Falling, receiving a blow to the face, or biting down on something hard, particularly if a tooth already has some decay, can cause a tooth to chip or break. If you discover that you’ve broken or chipped a tooth, don’t panic. Since this is a dental emergency, come see us as soon as possible, otherwise you risk further damage, infection, or even losing the tooth. In the meantime, take an over the counter pain reliever, and rinse your mouth with salt water. Treatment will depend on how severely the tooth is damaged. If only a small piece of enamel broke off, the repair can usually be done simply in one office visit. A badly damaged or broken tooth may require more lengthy procedures, including a dental filling, tooth bonding, or dental cap or crown.

Knocked-Out Tooth

A knocked-out permanent tooth is definitely a dental emergency, but fortunately, they can be re-implanted in many cases. A permanent tooth that is re-implanted within 30 minutes has the highest chance of success. Here’s what to do if this happens to you: (1) carefully collect teeth or teeth fragments touching only the top part of the tooth, not the root; (2) rinse your mouth with warm water, and if possible, reinsert permanent teeth into the correct sockets and bite on a gauze pad to hold teeth in place (if this isn’t possible, store them in whole milk or between your cheek and gum to prevent drying); and finally, (3) take an over the counter pain reliever and then call C & C Dentistry or go to an emergency room immediately. Be sure to take the teeth or teeth fragments with you.

Extruded or Dislodged Tooth

There are various causes of this kind of traumatic injury, including falls, blows, accidents and assaults, and they typically fall into three categories: lateral – where the tooth has been forced sideways (either back or forwards) in the socket and is immobile; extrusion, where the tooth has become loosened and begins to come out of the socket; and intrusion, where the tooth has been forced into the bone of the jaw. If you suffer from any type of dislodged (or partially dislodged), call C & C Dentistry right away. Until you reach our office, apply a cold compress to the outside of your mouth or cheek in the affected area to relieve any pain. If necessary you can also take an over-the-counter pain reliever.

Lost Filling or Crown

Sometimes, fillings or crowns fall out. In some cases, a filling or crown may come loose because there is decay underneath it. A lost filling or crown can be painful because the exposed tooth tissue is often sensitive to temperature, pressure or air. If you lose a crown, put it in a safe place and call us as soon as you can. Don’t wait, because what is left of the tooth will not be as strong as your crown and it could be damaged more without the crown to protect it. Also, when a crown is missing for a long time, your teeth may move into the space where the crown was. If this happens, your crown may no longer fit. Before you see us, here’s what you can do: (1) apply a little clove oil to the sensitive area with a cotton swab; (2) if you still have the crown, you may be able to slip it back over the tooth (before you do that, clean the inside of the crown and coat it with tooth “cement,” which you can buy in the dental section of your pharmacy); (3) if you’ve lost the filling or crown, you can put dental cement directly on the tooth surface, which will help to protect and seal the area until you’re able to see us.

Abscess

An abscessed tooth, most commonly caused by severe tooth decay, is a painful infection at the root of a tooth or between the gum and a tooth. It can also be caused by trauma to the tooth and gingivitis or gum disease. These problems cause openings in the tooth enamel, allowing bacteria to infect the center of the tooth (called the pulp). The infection may also spread from the root of the tooth to the bones supporting the tooth. Symptoms include toothache, fever, sensitivity to hot or cold, bitter taste in mouth, bad breath, swollen neck glands, redness or swelling, or an open sore on the side of the gum. A tooth abscess is a dental emergency. If you experience any of these symptoms, use warm salt-water rinses and over-the-counter pain relievers, and then call us for an appointment. Our goal will be to eliminate the infection, preserve the tooth, and prevent complications. To avoid future problems, be sure to follow good oral hygiene practices, and if you do happen to experience trauma again, seek prompt dental attention.

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DO YOU HAVE A DENTAL EMERGENCY?

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C & C Emergency Dentistry can deal with several types of dental emergencies, including:

Toothaches

Chipped or Broken Tooth

Knocked-Out Tooth

Extruded or Dislodged Tooth

Lost Filling or Crown

Abscess

12918 Shops Pkwy, Suite 450

512.263.8900

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