If your child is complaining of tooth pain, it can be difficult to tell if it’s really a same-day kind of visit. The best first choice is to call your dentist and ask if your child’s symptoms are a dental emergency. Good rules of thumb, your child might be experiencing a dental emergency if your child:
- Is in a lot of pain
- Has uncontrollable bleeding
- Feels sick
What Are the Symptoms of a Dental Emergency?
Sometimes, it’s better to be safe than sorry. It can be hard to measure how much pain your child is in when you’re going off of their word. If they’re in pain at all, you need to get them to a dentist anyway. The longer you wait, the more likely they are to struggle in school or end up hospitalized, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Aside from pain, here are some other symptoms and injuries to look out for:
- Cracked, chipped, or broken teeth
- A knocked-out tooth
- Jaw pain after an injury
- Excessive bleeding
- A lost crown or filling
- Something is stuck between the teeth
- Tender, swollen, bleeding gums
- A loose permanent tooth
- Swollen cheek or jaw
- Fever, nausea, and vomiting
Same-Day Tooth Extraction Near Me
Many of the signs and symptoms that constitute a dental emergency are due to an infected tooth. Infected teeth often cause abscesses that swell and radiate pain. These infections can get into the bloodstream and cause serious health complications. So, if you believe your child has an abscessed tooth, do not wait to get into an appointment. Go to a pediatric emergency dentist as soon as possible. It’s important to note that sometimes we cannot offer same day dental treatment for various reasons, but the situation can be addressed otherwise.
Preserve Your Child’s Knocked-Out Permanent Tooth
Other common forms of emergencies are due to injuries. You should still see an emergency pediatric dentist if your child knocks out a baby tooth, but permanent teeth need to be preserved in the hopes of re-insertion.
If your child knocks out a permanent tooth, here’s how to keep it healthy:
- Pick up the tooth by the crown, not the roots.
- For teeth belonging to children under 12, put the tooth in a plastic bag or sealed bowl with milk. We strongly suggest not allowing the tooth out to air dry.
- If you can, place the tooth back in the gums in the proper position and have the child bite down on cloth or medical gauze to keep the tooth in place.
Get into an emergency clinic within the hour if possible. If you can’t transport the tooth with milk, the child’s saliva or a moist cloth should do the job until you get to the clinic.
Visit Our Emergency Clinic at Bumble Bee Pediatric Dentistry
At our Hutto kids dentist, we provide comforting, competent emergency care for children. Don’t wait to get help for your child–we can get them out of pain and out of danger. Call (512) 351-7771 for an emergency dental appointment!
