Emergency Dentistry For Children

If your child gets hurt, knowing how to assess the situation can help keep everyone calm and can allow you to provide help to your child as quickly and efficiently as possible. Dental emergencies at Kingwood Family & Cosmetic Dentistry come up just as quickly and easily as any other bump or bruise.

You probably already have a first aid kit in the house but did you know that you can also purchase a dental first aid kit? These are a great thing to have in the house and kept in the same location as your regular first aid kit.

How should you handle a dental emergency with your child?

There are a few steps you can take to help determine if your child needs to see a dentist or not:

• Check for bleeding at the injury site.
• Clean the injury with a clean, soft, damp cloth.
• Give your child another clean cloth and have them bite down gently to stop any bleeding.
• Once your child is calm and holding pressure to the injury, inspect the site and determine if you need to see their dentist or if you need to get to the emergency room and do so accordingly.

It is not at all uncommon for a child to knock out a tooth. If your child has knocked out an adult tooth, find the tooth and holding it only by the crown, not the root, rinse the tooth under warm water and try to put the tooth back into the socket. If you were able to get the tooth back into the socket, have your child gently bite on a clean damp cloth to hold the tooth in place while you get them to the dentist as quickly as possible.

If you cannot get the tooth back into the socket place it into a cup of milk or saltwater and take both the tooth and your child to the dentist immediately.

In the event that your child has knocked out a baby tooth, do not try to put it back in the socket. Simply skip to putting it in milk or saltwater and take both tooth and child to the dentist. There’s a good chance that your dentist will not see a need to replace the tooth since it will have fallen out anyway. This is a job lady for the tooth fairy!

Dental First Aid Kit

A dental first aid kit will contain everything you need if your child knocks out a tooth. The kit should include:

• gauze
• mouthwash and small cup
• a cold compress or ice pack
• a cup with a lid to store a tooth

Taking Your Child to an Emergency Dental Visit

Once you’ve been able to assess the injury, the best thing is to get to their pediatric dentist as quickly as you can to ensure that the area is properly cared for. Most dentists hold time in their schedule regularly to see emergency patients so call the office to let them know that you are coming so that they can make sure you can be seen in a timely manner. If it is a day that the office is usually closed, call the office anyway. Offices usually leave a contact number so you can reach a doctor after hours.

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