Top 7 Indicators that You Have a Dental Emergency

When it comes to caring for your oral health, consider both small and big dental issues as significant enough to merit treatment. However, with dental emergencies, you must seek dental assistance urgently, if you want to maintain good oral health.

What Is a Dental Emergency?

It is an oral problem that is characterised by urgency, severity, and randomness. Dental emergencies can happen to anyone at any age. When they happen, they often disrupt life. While some dental emergencies are not as severe, some are very critical that they can be life-threatening. For example, a dental emergency that causes difficulty in breathing can cause adverse health problems to your entire body system.

Although many dental emergencies are random and unexpected, several of them are usually typical dental issues that progressed and advanced. The problem with many patients is that they neglect small dental issues, leaving them untreated for a long time. With time, the issues progress and advance, resulting in urgent dental issues that can no longer be avoided.

Common Indicators that You Have a Dental Emergency

When it comes to identifying a dental emergency, it is not always obvious. Many times patients rely on their gut feeling, but they can sometimes be wrong. Since many dental problems can turn into dental emergencies, consider the following signs and symptoms as indicators that you need emergency dentistry near you:

1. Prolonged bleeding – the mouth is amazing when it comes to regulating bleeding therein. Therefore, if you notice that you have been bleeding for a while and it does not naturally resolve itself, you may have a dental emergency. Be keen to take note of the amount of blood you are losing, as well as identifying the specific bleed spot in your mouth.
2. Unusually high pain levels – all kinds of pain are uncomfortable. However, when the pain levels are usually high, they can be unbearable. Any pain that limits you from going about your daily life is excruciating enough to merit a dental emergency. In that case, seek help in emergency dentistry in Richmond, TX, regardless of which part of your oral cavity is causing you pain.
3. Significant swelling in your mouth and/face – the body responds to infections and blunt trauma with inflammation. However, even though inflammation is an expected consequence when you have a dental problem, it should be manageable. Any kind of swelling that is highly notable should be alarming. This is especially so if the swelling begins to spread to other parts of your upper body, like the face and neck.
4. Open wounds – this is the easiest dental emergency to identify. When you have an open wound in your mouth, there is no further explanation needed to indicate a dental emergency. Be especially attentive to evaluate the size of the open wound, as this could be detrimental for your oral health if the wound gets infected.
5. Foreign objects stuck between teeth – this is another common oral emergency among children and teenagers. Any number of objects can be stuck in between teeth. The larger the size of the object, the more uncomfortable and threatening the situation is. Instead of trying to dislodge the object with sharp items in your household, which may make everything worse, consider this problem and urgent dental issue needing emergency treatment.
6. Affiliate symptoms – sometimes the signs you need to look out for do not necessarily affect your oral cavity. For many dental emergencies in Richmond, TX, the effects thereof can be felt on other parts of your body. This is typical for dental emergencies like food allergies as well as temporomandibular joint disorders. Some of the affiliate symptoms to consider are migraine headaches, neck pain, sore and swollen throat, tingling sensation in your ears, difficulty moving your tongue, nausea, and vomiting, to mention a few.
7. Missing or damaged oral appliance – this is a common dental emergency in Richmond among children and adults. Any oral appliance can get damaged, whether braces, tooth fillings, dental crowns, or dentures. The most alarming case is when you lose your oral device and can’t find it. Losing or damaging dental appliances is considered a dental emergency because it compromises the treatment you are currently undergoing. Without urgent care, the progress you have made since your initial treatment will all go down the drain.