Dental Emergencies
Dental emergencies include a veriety of adverse events that typically cause a great deal of pain for the sufferer. In certain cases, dental emergencies can bring about serious health consequences if they are not taken care of right away.
For example, a dental abscess is a fairly common problem that results from an underlying infection. The intense pain that you experience when an abscess suddenly rises to your attention means that the infection has moved down into the sensitive nerve ending of your tooth. This area is vulnerable to infection once reached through the protective system of the mouth, so the infection can quickly pass into the bloodstream from there.
If this were to happen you would be in a severe medical crisis situation, because those bacterium could invade any part of your body, including heart, lungs, brains, any weakened or susceptible tissue. Many people have died from this type of systemic infection brought about by an emergency dental abscess.
A common dentistry emergency that is much less pressing but can be intensely painful is a broken tooth. When a tooth breaks open and exposes the sensitive materials inside, you will experience extreme pain reactions to any changes in tempurature or pressure. Try to keep your mouth closed and only breathe through your nose. Also, do you best to resist allowing your tongue to make contact with the area.
There are a number of products on the market which can help with a broken or chipped tooth, such as waxes and sealants that include topical anesthetics. If you are near a drug store go there immediately or have someone go for you to purchase these materials, as they can be real lifesavers in the time before you can get in to see a dentist. If you are lucky enough to have one in your area, go see an emergency dentist.
The products you will find at the druggist for aiding a broken or cracked tooth will also be of great help to you if you find that you have lost a crown, cap, or filling. This can cause a lot of pain very quickly, for the same reasons as a broken tooth. You have a hole going right down into your tooth, where the very sensitive nerves are. So until you can get some crown cement or temporary filling putty in the hole in your tooth, keep you mouth closed and do not put anything into it. Try to keep the area as still as possible. You will be surprised how much this can help you in this type of dental emergency.