5-plus tips to get you out of pain and preserve damaged teeth when dental emergencies arise

Esquire Dental Centres is here for you and your family, no matter what life brings and as needs for oral health care evolve with time. To both protect against the need for emergency care and to provide pain relief from a toothache and other urgent matters, our kind and talented teams in Pickering, Scarborough, and North York, Ontario, are accessible. Our centres operate six days a week. 

Furthermore, we provide comprehensive and high-quality care and service. You can trust that any decisions made to resolve urgent dental needs will be in the best, long-term interests of your smile and “the rest of you.” Additionally, we are thoughtful and adaptable when it comes to scheduling. Our dentists, Drs Amir and Mark Awadalla provide guidance to get you out of pain quickly and to put your mouth in the best possible position to benefit from conservative dental care while also accommodating those emergency cases promptly. We understand that moments often matter when it comes to oral injuries and trauma that have resulted in damage to the teeth and the surrounding supportive tissues. 

Depending on what you tell us when you call, we may recommend the following steps for home care in the interim to bridge those moments before you can get to one of our centres:

• Use warm (not hot) water to rinse your mouth and to aid in removing any potentially irritating food particles. 
• Flossing gently between troublesome teeth can also help to remove irritating substances, such as “stuck” or lingering food debris. 
• Even cracked teeth can be preserved with a bit of help from you! After rinsing out your mouth, gently use a bag of frozen vegetables or other “cold compress”-type object to ease any swelling that may be present. Gauze is helpful and should be applied to sore spots and to halt any bleeding that may be present. Portions of the tooth that may be dislodged should also be cleaned and preserved either with a solution like Save-A-Tooth® or in a container filled with milk.
• Speaking of displaced teeth, a “knocked-out” or avulsed tooth may get a second chance if you take great care to ensure the soft tissues that attach the tooth to your mouth remain undisturbed. Carefully hold the tooth by its white, hard part (the crown) and either place it back in your mouth or store it as suggested above. It is a “must” that the displaced portions of the tooth do not dry out. They need to retain their moisture, especially when talking about those root surfaces. In addition to seeing the dentist ASAP, this step can go far to successfully re-root the tooth and avoid the need for extraction and prosthetics. 
• Broken or otherwise damaged fillings, dental crowns, and other restorations should be secured with specialized dental products (such as denture adhesives or dental cement). Even sugar-free gum and toothpaste can be used in the interim to preserve the restoration.

There are many potential sources of an aching tooth. We encourage you to maintain recall appointments at Esquire Dental Centres. Routine professional care helps to avoid the causes of tooth pain, such as advanced dental decay and gum disease. Also, please phone us at the first sign of any changes or pain! Our office in Pickering, ON can be reached at 905 250-1605. By contacting us as soon as possible, we can stop the pain from getting worse and may be able to save a damaged tooth.