Dental emergencies can happen at any time. There are almost limitless causes of dental emergencies but there are some common causes include chips or cracks caused by biting down on something hard. Physical trauma such as a sporting injury or motor vehicle accident are also responsible for many dental emergencies such as knocked out teeth. These can be very concerning times during practice hours but are even more serious when the emergency happens out of hours.

If your dental emergency takes place during normal practice hours, your Central London dentist will be able to fit you in around their normal appointments depending on the severity. However, if it occurs outside of normal practice hours, there will be information about how to get in touch with the on-call dentist on your surgery’s answering service.

There are several steps you can take after a dental emergency to give yourself a better chance of successful treatment. If a tooth has been chipped or knocked out it is important to find the excess part and preserve it either in milk or saliva. This will increase your chance of the dentist being able to replace or reattach the fragment or tooth.

You can attempt to stop bleeding and swelling by using cold compresses either on the inside or the outside of the cheek. This will also help to limit the pain you may be experiencing. You can take pain relief medicine but never place aspirin next to the skin in the mouth as this may cause tissue damage. Try to see a dentist as soon as possible after the emergency to give your self the best possible chance of successful treatment.

Medics rushing out with accident victims bleeding from their mouth and knocked out teeth is a common scene at London playgrounds and schools, and we can see similar pictures in popular English sports channels also. We can generally prevent such accidents by using a mouth guard. Mouth guard is a custom-made cover made of rubber, which protect your teeth and gums from damage.  You can consult your local dentist and he will be happy to provide you with one. It is important that you wear a mouth guard when you participate in sports activities, especially contact sports. The medical term for knocked out tooth is “avulsed” tooth. This is a medical emergency, where the victim suffers from  pain of avulsion and the mental agony arising out of losing of teeth. Our general perception is that once a tooth is knocked out it can never be saved; but that is wrong. If we can preserve the knocked out tooth and reimplant it within 60 minutes, the chances of saving it for life is great. For this, we should be aware of the do’s and don’ts about preservation of the knocked out tooth. You should pick up the tooth by the crown only and NEVER touch the root and if possible, place it back in its socket itself. Alternatively, we can keep it in between the gums and cheek.  If the tooth is dirty, wash it gently in running water or milk. Never scrub or wash it with disinfectant, which can damage the tooth. . If immediate reimplantation is impossible, we can preserve it in milk, saliva, or in saline solution. A kit is available in London pharmacies, i.e. H.B.S.S (Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution), which is similar to saliva. It is very important that the tooth should not be allowed to dry out. Drying of the tissues drastically reduces the success of reimplantation. The tooth should not be stored in water, as it damages the cells on the surface. As this is a very common incident in schools and sports centres in London, it is of prime importance that all parents, school authorities, and coaches should be given training in first aid and proper preservation of teeth. We should take special note that if the person has head injury or shows any signs of unconsciousness, vomiting, or difficulty in breathing, never attempt to put the tooth in his/her mouth. There is no need to preserve a milk tooth as this may damage the formation of permanent tooth bud. The most important thing in saving an avulsed tooth is keeping it moist in its natural environment and get it reimplanted by a dentist as early as possible.