By Arthur Kezian
If you fall down and knock a tooth out, you know that is a dental emergency. However, other dental emergencies aren’t so easy to spot.
So, how do you know if you’re dealing with a true dental emergency?
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be in blinding pain. Instead, your mouth just may not feel “quite right”. You may simply have a dull ache that won’t go away. If you’re having trouble eating, talking, or even ignoring the feeling, it’s worth a phone call to a dentist.
What happens if you wait?
Even minor dental pain isn’t going to just go away all by itself. You have to address it — sooner rather than later, so see an emergency dentist. In fact, the longer you ignore any type of dental emergency, the worse it will get. Remember, your teeth are living things. They’re attached to tissues, nerve endings, and blood vessels that are in charge of keeping them alive. If you wait too long to deal with problems, your teeth may suffer permanent damage.
After all, you wouldn’t expect to be OK is your oxygen supply got cut off. It’s the same way with your teeth! If they get cut off from the things that keep them alive, you can’t expect them to emerge unscathed.
Sadly, it doesn’t take much for a simple problem to cause nerve damage inside your teeth. Or, if that infected tooth sits around long enough, the infection can spread to other parts of your body and make you feel sick all over.
But what if it doesn’t hurt? What if it looks a whole lot worse than it feels?
Dental emergencies aren’t always accompanied by pain — even minor pain. For example, if your filling falls out, it may not hurt. However, that filling is what’s holding your tooth together. Without it, a simple snack can do major damage to your tooth, so don’t hold off seeing a dentist.
Or, if one of your teeth cracks while you’re out to dinner, it might look terrible — but doesn’t hurt very much. However, the structural integrity of your tooth has been compromised. If you just keep eating, it can lead to a full-fledged break.
Remember — it’s better to be safe than sorry!
You’re far better off paying your dentist a visit, rather than waiting around. That way, your odds of needing major, invasive, expensive dental work goes way down.
At the very least, your Los Angeles emergency dentist can tell you exactly what to do to get some relief — even if it’s just over the phone. For example, if you have a knocked tooth that falls off, you only have a short amount of time before it dies. Your dentist can tell you to put the tooth in some milk and head to his office ASAP.
Getting advice like that can save your entire smile!
Dr. Arthur A. Kezian DDS 443 N. Larchmont Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90004 (323) 467-2777