Minor Dental Pain: Emergency Room Near You
You might not want to hear this given it can be uncomfortable or even debilitating depending on the severity, but pain plays a very important role as far as our health is concerned. This is because it helps us know that there is something wrong with an area or part of the body so that we can take action about it, with the severity of the pain usually indicating the severity of the situation. It therefore protects us from more damage. This is particularly true when it comes to dental pain, as since you can’t be able to see the various dental parts as they are in your mouth, dental pain is what will let you know if you have a problem. Dental pain may indicate an issue with your teeth, gums, jaw and even your sinuses among other causes. Dental pain may also be accompanied by reddening or inflammation of the gums as well as headaches in certain situations. Dental pain can be severe or it can be minor, with the severity of the pain, as mentioned above, usually indicating the severity of the situation. This article will look to shine a light on minor dental pain, from the common causes to how you can relieve it as well as the scenarios that indicate that you should head over to an emergency room near you for dental pain.
As far as minor dental pain is concerned, we are going to start by highlighting some of the common causes. One of the most common causes of minor dental pain is a sensitivity to temperature. This may occur when you eat something that is extremely cold or hot. This is usually a sign of tooth decay, a filling that has come lose or an exposed root of a tooth due to gum recession or abrasion. You should book an appointment with your dentist when you experience such pain so that they can get to the bottom of it. Another cause of minor dental pain is sensitivity that comes about after having had a dental treatment procedure such professional dental cleaning among others. This sort of pain is usually short-lived and usually goes away after a few days or weeks depending on the procedure. You can take over-the-counter pain medication to help with this sort of pain. If you are experiencing dull ache and pressure on your upper teeth, then the culprit could be your sinuses. You should head over to your dentist’s in such a situation to be evaluated and attended to. Minor dental pain may also be a sign of early infection of the tooth. In such a situation you will notice pain that lingers after you finish eating. You should have yourself attended to as soon as you can so as to prevent the infection from getting too severe. A root canal procedure may be performed to rid the affected tooth of infection and as such saving it.
If you are experiencing minor dental pain, you should head over to your dentist to be attended to. However, if this is not possible and maybe it is after hours or the weekend and your dentist is unavailable, there are a number of home remedies that can help alleviate the pain as you wait for your dentist to be available again. They include dabbing a bit of clove oil with a cotton wool on the tooth that is aching, and since cloves contain Eugenol which is a natural anesthetic and a numbing agent, it will help ease the pain. You can also apply a hydrogen peroxide or salt water rinse especially if the pain is due to infection. Hydrogen peroxide is preferred as it can actually attack the bacteria causing the infection rather than just washing the debris away as is the case for salt water. Garlic is also a good home remedy for minor dental pain as it acts as an antibiotic with a peppermint tea bag being another one that can help with your dental pain as you await to see your dentist.
The good news is, if you are experiencing a dental emergency, then you don’t have to wait for your dentist to be available as you can head over to an emergency room near you and you will be attended to. A dental emergency constitutes scenarios such as those involving severe pain which can be a sign of a serious dental issue, bleeding from your mouth, an infection such as an abscess which can be revealed through swelling on your gums or swelling around your face as well as situations where you may have had a tooth knocked out, a chipped tooth or if you have a tooth that is loose in your mouth. If notice signs of an abscess or an infection, you suffer any sort of dental injury be it having a tooth cracked, chipped, knocked out or come loose or if you suffer severe soft tissue injuries of the mouth such as injuries to the gums, inner cheeks, tongue or lips with severe cuts and bleeding, then you should head over to an emergency room near you. Other severe symptoms as far as dental emergencies are concerned include fever and chills which are a sign of an infection as well as difficulty swallowing and rashes in the face. These too should lead to a visit to an emergency room near you.
Remember, while minor dental pain may be handled at home with home remedies as you wait to see your dentist, dental emergencies can be expertly handled at an emergency room near you. This allows you to receive immediate treatment without having to wait for your dentist, improving your outcome and also preventing the need of you having to have any extensive treatment later on.
