An injury that damages your mouth and teeth can be frightening, but there are key first aid steps you can take to minimize damage. Discover them today!
Uh oh. You fell or your child has hit their face, and now you’ve got bleeding and damage to the mouth and nose. What do you do? Fortunately, there are great first aid steps you can take that can make a big difference in helping with recovery.
Whether you’re getting help or helping someone else, here are some tips that will help stop the bleeding, minimize the damage, and make it easier to get to a doctor or hospital.
Apply Pressure
One of the first things you can do to keep everyone calm is to stop the bleeding and help reduce pain in the damaged area. Apply pressure to the damaged part of the mouth with cold, wet gauze. Have the injured person bite on the gauze to maintain the pressure.
The gauze will help stop the bleeding and the cold and wet nature of it will help soothe some of the pain.
Recover Broken Teeth
Permanent teeth that are re-implanted within 30 minutes have the highest chance of success. Dental implants in Guelph can help you find any lost teeth or fragments.
In most cases, you don’t want to try to clean the tooth. If there is dirt or foreign matter on it, you can rinse it for a few seconds. However, don’t try to scrape, scrub, or disinfect it. Any damage you do significantly lessens the chance it can be restored.
Use a Cold Compress
Once bleeding is stopped or reduced, you can apply a cool compress on the cheek or outside of the mouth to reduce swelling. You can also encourage the injured person to suck on a frozen pop if you have one available.
You can also give over the counter pain medicine as needed if the person can take it.
Get Medical Assistance
If the person is knocked out or seriously injured, call 911. Even if they are not, if they have lost or damaged teeth they should go to the emergency room or contact London City Dental right away. Remember, speed is important when it comes to successfully re-implanting teeth.
To transport broken or missing teeth to the medical facility, place it in milk or a container of the person’s saliva to keep it from drying out and becoming more damaged. Do not store it in tap water!
You can also try to replace the tooth in the socket and have the person bite down to hold it in place on the way to the dentist or doctor.
Watch for Signs of Additional Problems
Finally, once the initial furor over the injury has died down, watch for signs of additional problems over the next few days. Pay attention to continued pain, a fever, or any change in the colour or health of teeth that were damaged.
You’ll also want to keep an eye on the gums surrounding the injury, to make sure they do not swell or become infected.
Unfortunately infections in the mouth can be very serious because they have easy access to a variety of vital systems. If you notice any problems or have concerns, don’t hesitate to contact a dentist or hospital right away.
Accidents happen, but you can recover. With these tips, a dental injury doesn’t have to be a permanent problem. Be sure you get the treatment you need as quickly as possible.
To read more on topics like this, check out the health category.