Emergency Dental Work: Topics, Tricks and Tips

Posted on: 24 September 2018

Losing one of your teeth can be an upsetting, expensive and painful experience. Fortunately, there are ways to minimise the risk of this happening. Continue reading to find out more.

1. Don't rely solely on your at-home dental hygiene to keep periodontal disease at bay

One of the most common reasons why people lose teeth is because they have developed periodontal disease. This oral condition causes a person's gums to become inflamed and to eventually recede to the point where they cannot hold the teeth in place anymore. This then leads to the teeth falling out.

It's a common misconception that implementing a consistent and thorough at-home dental hygiene routine is enough to keep this disease at bay. The truth is that if you rely solely on your own oral hygiene efforts to prevent gum disease, and only visit your dentist once every few years for a scale-and-polish, it is very likely that you will eventually lose at least one of your teeth.

This is because no matter how well you floss and brush, there will always be some residual plaque bacteria left behind on your teeth. As time passes, the initially sticky film created by the bacteria will harden and turn into tartar, a substance that cannot be brushed off. If you leave years between your dental appointments, this tartar will inflame your gums and cause periodontal disease to develop.

As such, it is important not to rely solely on your at-home efforts to keep your teeth and gums in good condition. Instead, you should visit your dentist once every six months or so, for a check-up and a scale-and-polish.

2. Act fast if one of your teeth gets knocked out

If one of your teeth gets knocked out, you might be able to save it, if you act quickly. In this situation, time is of the essence, and you should not wait until your normal dentist can see you to undergo treatment. Instead, you should find a local emergency dentist and have them re-insert the tooth as soon as possible. In order for this re-insertion to be successful, you will need to have it carried out no more than an hour after the tooth was first knocked out (as after this amount of time, the living tissues in the tooth's root will start to die).

If possible, before you start travelling to the emergency dentist, you should fill up a small, lidded container with milk, and drop your tooth into this liquid. This will further increase the likelihood of the dentist being able to save it.