Emergency Dentist in Spruce Grove

Toothaches  

Is My Toothache a Dental Emergency? A toothache does warrant a call to our office, yes. However, the urgency of the situation depends largely on your symptoms. For instance, if you’ve been experiencing a sharp, stabbing pain when you bite down for over 24 hours now, then we need to schedule an exam right away.

How You Should Handle a Toothache: Fortunately, there are a few steps you can take to alleviate your toothache in Spruce Grove temporarily, including opting for room-temperature water, placing a cold compress against the outside of your cheek, and taking OTC pain medication as directed on the label.

How We Treat Toothaches: We offer several restorative treatments at our office, including tooth-colored fillings, dental crowns, and root canals. Ultimately, the one that’s best for you will depend on what’s causing your toothache and how severe the damage is, which is why it’s so important for us to complete a comprehensive oral exam.

Chipped Teeth  

Is a Chipped Tooth a Dental Emergency? While we do recommend calling us if you’ve chipped a tooth, an emergency visit may not be necessary. For instance, if you aren’t experiencing any unusual dental symptoms, like sensitivity, then coming to our office a day or two from now should suffice.

How You Should Handle a Chipped Tooth: To prevent the chip from getting worse, we recommend sticking to soft foods, not chewing on that side of your mouth, and covering the sharp edge with some dental wax or sugar-free gum.

How We Treat Chipped Teeth: There are a few ways that we can restore the missing structure of your tooth, including with cosmetic bonding and a veneer. We’ll discuss the pros of each with you and share which one we recommend during your visit so you can confidently decide how you’d like to proceed.

Cracked Tooth  

Is a Cracked Tooth a Dental Emergency? Since a cracked tooth can easily break further, it is considered a dental emergency. So, don’t wait – call our team at Spruce Ridge Dental Center so we can schedule an appointment and walk you through what to do until you arrive.

How You Should Handle a Cracked Tooth: It’s very important that you avoid doing anything that could cause your tooth to break further, like eating hard pretzels, raw almonds, or tortilla chips. It’s also a good idea to rinse your mouth with room-temperature water periodically and take OTC pain medication as directed, if needed.

How We Treat Cracked Teeth: That depends on how severe the crack is. If it has damaged your tooth beyond the point of repair, for example, then we will need to extract it. Then, we can have a custom dental bridge or implant made to restore the appearance of your smile and the strength of your bite. 

Very Sensitive Teeth

Are Very Sensitive Teeth a Dental Emergency? There are some cases when the answer is “yes,” including if there is a pimple-like bump on your gums. This warrants an emergency visit because there’s a chance that an infection has developed. If that’s the case, we need to eliminate it before it spreads throughout your mouth and body.

How You Should Handle Very Sensitive Teeth: There are a few steps that we recommend taking, including using a desensitizing toothpaste, drinking room-temperature water, and avoiding spicy foods. You can also take OTC pain medication as directed if you need some additional relief. 

How We Treat Very Sensitive Teeth: First, we need to complete a comprehensive oral exam to determine what’s triggering your discomfort. From there, we can discuss your treatment options, share how we recommend proceeding, and get to work restoring your healthy, pain-free smile.

Knocked-Out Tooth

Is My Knocked-Out Tooth a Dental Emergency? Absolutely! In fact, in order to have a chance of saving your tooth, we need to intervene within the hour. So, it’s crucial that you contact our team at Spruce Ridge Dental right away. Over the phone, we will schedule an emergency visit and provide instructions on how to handle this dental injury until you arrive.

How You Should Handle a Knocked-Out Tooth: If you can’t find your tooth, don’t worry – just focus on getting to our office. If you do have it, however, then you should place it back in the socket. If it doesn’t slide back into place easily, then put it in a clean container filled with milk or saline solution instead.

How We Treat Knocked-Out Teeth: That depends! If you lost your tooth, for instance, then our Spruce Grove dental team will need to replace it with either a dental bridge or a dental implant.

Lost Filling or Crown

Is a Lost Filling or Crown a Dental Emergency? We do recommend coming to our office the same day, if you can. If that’s not possible for one reason or another, don’t worry – scheduling an appointment before the end of the week should suffice if you take the necessary precautions, which we’ve outlined below.

How You Should Handle a Lost Filling or Crown: There are a few steps that we recommend taking, starting with scheduling an appointment with us. We also recommend rinsing your mouth periodically with clean, room-temperature water, steering clear of sugary and spicy foods, and not chewing on that side of your mouth.

How We Treat Lost Fillings or Crowns: Both lost dental fillings and crowns can be replaced with new ones. However, if you arrive at our office with a dental crown that’s in good condition, then we may recommend a different solution: re-cementing it back in place.

Broken Denture

Is My Broken Denture a Dental Emergency? Yes! After all, even if the damage is relatively minor now, it will get worse with continued wear. So, don’t take the “wait and see” approach. Instead, contact our team at Spruce Ridge Dental to schedule an appointment.

How You Should Handle a Broken Denture: It’s very important that you don’t take a DIY approach, like using superglue. Instead, schedule an appointment at our office and keep your denture in its case in the meantime. While the strength of your bite is temporarily compromised, stick to plain yogurt, applesauce, and other soft foods that are easy to chew.

How We Treat Broken Dentures: Minor damage can often be repaired at our dental office in Spruce Grove. If the break is significant, however, then we will need to begin the process of having a new one made. The silver lining is that this is a great opportunity to upgrade to the gold standard in tooth replacement: dental implants.

LEARN MORE ABOUT DENTAL IMPLANTS

Loose Permanent Tooth

Is a Loose Permanent Tooth a Dental Emergency? Absolutely. In fact, the longer you wait, the higher the chances are of the tooth completely falling out. So, it’s of the utmost importance that you schedule an emergency visit right away.

How You Should Handle Loose Permanent Teeth: Since the tooth is at risk of falling out, you shouldn’t touch it with your fingers, chew on that side of your mouth, or do anything else that could cause it to loosen further. Instead, stick to a soft foods diet, rinse periodically with clean, room-temperature water, and take OTC pain medication as directed, if needed.

How We Treat Loose Permanent Teeth: Ideally, we will be able to use a dental splint to help the tooth heal in place. If that’s not an option because the tooth is beyond the point of saving, then we will need to extract it and put a custom dental bridge or implant in its place.

Injury to the Gums, Lips, or Tongue

Is an Injury to the Gums, Lips, or Tongue a Dental Emergency? Cuts to the gums, lips, and tongue can bleed quite a bit, which often causes patients to panic. However, most of the time, soft tissue injuries like these can be handled at home.

How You Should Handle an Injury to the Gums, Lips, or Tongue: First, rinse your mouth with clean, cool water in the sink. Then, locate the cut and apply pressure to it with either gauze or a damp, clean washcloth. Once the bleeding has stopped, you can reduce swelling and ease discomfort with a cold compress.

How We Treat Injuries to the Gums, Lips, or Tongue: Usually, soft tissue injuries don’t require a same-day visit to our office. With that said, you should call 911 or head to the ER if the cut is bleeding uncontrollably.

Jaw Pain

Is Jaw Pain a Dental Emergency? The urgency of the situation largely depends on your symptoms. For instance, if your jaw pain has progressed to the point where it’s making it difficult to chew, then you should schedule an appointment with us right away.

How You Should Handle Jaw Pain: To temporarily ease the discomfort you’re experiencing, we recommend placing a cold compress against the outside of your cheek for 10 minutes at a time and taking OTC pain medication as directed. You also should avoid doing anything that could exacerbate your symptoms, like chewing gum.

How We Treat Jaw Pain: That depends on what the culprit is! For some, it’s impacted wisdom teeth, which need to be removed. For others, it’s TMJ dysfunction, which can be alleviated with BOTOX®.

Something Stuck Between the Teeth

If you get something stuck between your teeth, like a piece of food, don’t grab a toothpick or any other sharp object. Instead, use a clean strand of floss to remove the debris. If that doesn’t work, try rinsing your mouth with warm saltwater a few times (this should help loosen it).