Would you know what to do when faced with a dental emergency? The first and most important step is to get yourself to the dentist’s office as fast as possible. The chances of saving your tooth, especially when a tooth becomes chipped, broken, or comes out, depends on how quickly you get to the dentist. If you get to the dentist within the hour, your injured tooth may be saved, even placed back into the socket straight away. If you can, you should save the fragment or whole tooth and put it in a small container of milk or salt water to preserve it while you get to the dentist. Take care not to disturb any tissue fragments that are still attached to the tooth. If you are suffering from toothaches, try rinsing your mouth with warm water and gently floss the troubled tooth in order to remove any food particles that may be stuck there causing discomfort. If you are experiencing swelling, a cold compress could ease the inflammation as you wait to see the dentist. Do not attempt any treatment at home that could harm your gums or cause further trauma to your mouth. There is no reason to panic in a dental emergency so get in touch with your dentist in the City of London as quickly as possible.

Most households in the city of London will have some form of first aid kit in the event of a minor emergency such as cuts and grazes, but are you prepared for dental emergencies? You should be, for things can spiral out of control fast in the mouth when things start to go wrong and if you happen to be a million miles from home, your dentist is probably going to be wrapped up in bed and won’t be able to see you immediately, so you are pretty much on your own. The best way around this is to make a preemptive strike and get prepared for any thing that comes along. To do this, you should talk to your dentist first to learn about the nature of dental emergencies and what to do should one manifest itself. They are distinguishable by two categories, major and minor. Major emergencies can be anything from having quite a severe accident to the mouth that will require immediate treatment to prevent further complications or the treatment of abscesses that can lead to a life threatening situations: in the event of such problems cropping up, your dentist can supply you with an emergency number to call, or if in doubt call for an ambulance. But don’t start calling in the case of minor emergencies, things such as chips to the teeth or the loss of a filling. Yes they can be uncomfortable, but they don’t require immediate treatment and you can get by with a little home nursing. A little salt water, some pain-killers, good products and a few herbal alternatives should get you through until your dentist gets up in the morning.

Not wishing to impugn the human nature of most people living in central London, but some of you do find it difficult to distinguish between a mild crisis and a full blown emergency- just ask the emergency services about some of the daft phone calls they receive each year. But panic is borne out of our ignorance and lack of preparation to an ‘incident’. It’s the same with dental emergencies, but by clueing ourselves up, we should at least then, be able distinguish between calling up a dentist at two in the morning because there’s a piece of food stuck in your teeth, as opposed to calling an ambulance because you have a life threatening abscess. Most ‘emergencies’ are very minor; an annoying tooth ache, a chipped tooth, or if a bridge, crown, veneer or filling have dropped out- these are minor. Yes they need fixing, but not immediately. Until you can get to the dentist, relief can be found through pain killers, and herbal products can soothe and calm inflammation or discomfort. Losing a tooth is a different matter, depending on the nature of the loss. Most dentists run an out-of-hours hotline you can call in emergencies such as this. The worst case scenario is an abscess. If your face has started to swell, no tablets on earth is going to stop your blood from the poisoning process- now you can call the ambulance!

A dental emergency, like any emergency, needs to be addressed immediately, but it is also important not to overreact to a problem that may arise in the mouth. Dental emergencies come in many shapes and sizes, so it’s important to educate yourself with an understanding of the nature of the emergency. Most problems can be attended to at home until a dentist can be seen. If you lose a filling, a veneer, a crown or even chip a tooth, exposure to cold air can be painful, but until you can get treatment, gaps can be plugged with gum and treated with clove oil or painkillers; as can toothaches- these can arise at any time, but can be treated in the same way. If you lose a tooth, again the gap should be filled and if possible, the tooth retained until a dentist can be seen. But as well as keeping the emergency in perspective, you should never underestimate a problem either. Some wounds can become infected if not treated, leading to further complications. In the case of an explosion of an abscess, the situation can easily become life threatening. It’s always useful to have products lying around the house or in a first-aid kit to cope with minor emergencies. Some dentists within the city of London may offer a 24 hour emergency line that you can call, but if you feel there is a real emergency at hand, a hospital should be sought- self awareness in an emergency is important.

Dental emergencies can be very traumatic and very painful. This is largely because the teeth are very sensitive and important parts of the body, but also because there is often a feeling of helplessness when something happens to your teeth. Dental emergencies come in many shapes and sizes. It could be a severe pain of toothache, a dental trauma resulting in knocked out or broken teeth or even the loss of previous dental repair work such as fillings or dental crowns.

If the emergency tales place during practice hours it is not that serious as your City of London dentist will be able to see you around other appointments, especially if the problem is serious but the question arises: what do you do when the emergency happens at night or when the dental surgery is closed?

Most surgeries will have an answer phone message that will give you instructions about what to do in case of an emergency. This will most likely involve calling the on-call dentist, whose details will usually be provided in the message. This will be a surgery somewhere that is open for emergencies such as this. Depending on how serious the problem, they will be able to advise you or see you as soon as possible.

It is also a good idea to know what you can do yourself during a dental emergency. Always try to stop the bleeding with a gauze and remember to look after the tooth if it has been knocked out. Placing it in milk or saliva will extend its life span but you need to get to a dentist as soon as you can. Over the counter painkillers will also help to numb the pain in most dental emergencies.

When we get a dental emergency its generally in the middle of the night or on the weekend, and that`s the hardest time to find a dentist says a City of London dentist. Old wives tales come into play as to how to deal with a tooth ache, and surprisingly enough some of them work. Most of us have a first aid kit at home or at least a few plasters, but few of us have a dental first aid kit. Like the Scouts and the Girl Guides we should always be prepared for emergencies, so a dental kit would be handy. Tooth ache is best dealt with by applying heat to the enamel back and front, a warm tea bag can be gently applied and a little pressure will hold it in place. Oil of Cloves is probably one of the better pain reliefs that is available, but it’s not the kind of thing that we easily find lying around the house. Apply this oil with a baby bud and let the oil drip from the top all over the tooth, it will give your gums a burning sensation, but it won`t actually burn you. Whatever you do don`t solve the problem by drinking lots of alcohol, alcohol isn`t a pain killer and is dangerous when taken in large quantities. By all means swish some brandy or whisky, if its handy and you have nothing else, around the tooth in question, just allow it to sit around the pain zone and that too will help, but no swallowing.

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.

We have a plan when the car breaks down, we are covered by insurance if a pipe bursts and all of these come with a number and a procedure that works. When it comes to a Dental Emergency we are usually completely lost as to what to do, and how to do it advises a Central London dentist. A little forward planning is all that is needed, first of all are you actually registered at a dental surgery? If you`re not then you will need to be in order to get emergency treatment. A hospital A and E unit won`t be able to assist you as they don`t have emergency dental facilities. Call your nearest dentist and register first, then get the emergency number for out of office hours, how simple was that! If you get a dental problem then by the Laws laid down by Mr Murphy (Murphy`s law states that if a problem can occur, it usually will), it will happen at a weekend, late at night on even on a Bank Holiday. So, you will need to have a backup plan, this is known as Plan `B`. Go to the chemist and buy a phial of Oil of Cloves, some baby buds and some cotton balls, keep them handy in a sealed container. If you get a tooth ache then simply dip a baby bud into the oil of cloves and gently wipe the oil around the tooth, it will react and create heat which in turn will relieve the pain till you can get to a dental surgery. Taking two painkillers will help as well, never exceed the limit on the packet. Do not drink alcohol to relieve pain, this is a cowboy film fallacy that doesn`t work. If you`re out and about and you get a pain, mix some salt and pepper together with a drop of water and use this as you would the oil of cloves

The first thing you must do when you have an excruciating tooth ache is to take 2 paracetemol, advises a Central London dentist. That will not only take some of the sensation away, but it will keep you calm. Like all things in life you should keep the number of the emergency dental service available in your area handy, don’t wait until it happens to find it out. Oil of Cloves will also take away the pain by reacting with the tooth and producing heat, this is a pain reliever. In the event that you don`t have any Oil of Cloves, an `old wives tale` cure is to mix salt and pepper into a past using a droplet of water, then putting this on the tooth, always use a baby bud if you can. You will need to be previously registered with a dentist in order to get emergency services, again it is a case of doing this now to avoid a problem before it occurs, NHS Direct is on 0845 4647, call them now and register with a local dentist. The dentist will deal with the problem, don`t waste your time going to an emergency clinic at a hospital as they cannot help you; neither can your doctor except to give you a strong pain killer only available on prescription. Your dental surgery should have an emergency out of hours service, most do, so also know where the surgery is if you have just registered and haven`t visited yet. One of the most common dental emergencies that require an extraction, is an impacted tooth that has become infected by trapped food debris, this is also known as a Wisdom Tooth. If you have one then get it dealt with before it becomes infected, as prevention is always preferable to a cure.

A dental emergency is characterised as a sudden injury to the teeth or gums that could put you at risk of further potentially serious damage if not treated immediately. Further serious damage could include increased pain, lasting damage to tooth structure or the need for costly and time-consuming surgery as a result of not receiving the necessary treatment.

The most common types of dental emergency are toothaches. If experiencing a toothache, you should rinse your mouth out with warm water and floss to remove any lodged food. Using a cold compress against the outside of your mouth can help to alleviate pain. It is always necessary to see a dentist when you have a toothache, even if the pain goes away as this might be the result of a dead nerve.

Emergencies also occur when there is structural damage to the teeth like chipped, cracked or broken teeth. These can be very painful, especially if the nerve is exposed. If the area is bleeding you can use a gauze to stop the flow of blood before arranging to see a dentist as soon as possible. For knocked out teeth, it may be possible to replace it immediately if the tooth slots back in. By then applying gentle pressure with a gauze you can hold it there increasing the chances of it reattaching. If the tooth does not slot back in easily, you can cover it in milk or saliva and take it immediately to the dentist where they may be able to attach it.

Other common dental emergencies include damage to dental repair or orthodontic straightening devices. Lost fillings, crowns or veneers are common and need to be replaced as soon as possible to prevent any further damage. Snapped wires or broken brackets should be fixed as soon s possible so teeth do not begin to slide back out of position.

Whatever the cause of your dental emergency it is always necessary to see a London dentist as soon as possible. Dentists will be on call for emergencies or will provide information on an answering service about what to action you should take.