One of the worst types of pain you can experience is from the oral cavity. Whether it’s the teeth or the gums, you can’t ignore the importance of seeking urgent dental care when it’s required. Dental pain is common worldwide, and more than 58% of Americans visit the dentist at least once a year in the US. Out of this percentage, more than half seek care only when there’s a red flag. What are some of the signs you should be looking out for? Find out a few here.
An aching tooth
Whether chronic or acute, an aching tooth is always a precursor to an underlying dental condition. It could be cavities or a problem with a nerve within the roots. Tooth pain often doesn’t go away on its own until it has been attended to by a professional. Some painkillers may help with the ache’s severity, but the throbbing pain returns with increased intensity when the medication wears off.
Admittedly, some people experience one-off tooth pain and never experience it again. However, that shouldn’t be a reason to ignore the essence of seeking urgent dental care. Living with pain in the mouth can be debilitating and capable of inhibiting you from performing daily functions. Even worse, an aching tooth in some cases can cause reddish and watery eyes because of their proximity.
For help, you’ll find it useful to seek care from the dentist’s office, such as Mesa Street Dental. Leaving an aching tooth on its own without seeking professional care can progress into even more harmful oral conditions. Immediate care spares you from costlier dental procedures.
Receding gums
This is one of the tell-tale signs of periodontitis. The danger about receding gums is that it could lead to nerve exposure which can cause sensitive teeth, where the teeth become overly sensitive to hot or cold foods. Even worse, receding gums greatly increase the sufferer’s risk of tooth decay. In a worst-case scenario, it can cause permanent tooth loss. Human dentition consists of two sets of teeth; the milk teeth and the adult teeth. When the adult ones finally come in, any loss of dentition will require a cosmetic procedure.
Receding gums are serious oral conditions you should never overlook, even when you experience no pain or discomfort. Also known as gingival recession, people with this condition often experience bleeding gums and bad breath. The latter is mostly because harmful bacteria tend to build up beneath the gum line and release toxins that result in halitosis.
Knocked-out tooth
A sudden impact on the face can lead to losing a tooth or more. In some cases, it results in a loosened tooth. When either of these two happens, dentists recommend seeking immediate help from a skilled professional. The sooner you receive care, the higher your chances of having the knocked out or loose tooth reinserted. If the tooth was completely knocked out of your mouth, avoid touching the root or the underside. Instead, it’s best to pick it up either by the crown or the top, as touching the root will render the nerve inactive.
However, if it was knocked out but remained in your mouth, keep it there and rush to the dentist immediately. More so, if you can reinsert the tooth into the socket, do so while you prepare to go to the dental office. Dentists also recommend keeping a knocked-out tooth in a little amount of milk as you seek urgent care within an hour.
Tooth abscess
A dental abscess can be fatal, especially when pus finds its way into the brain. A tooth abscess occurs when pus collects within the tooth as a result of an infection. It usually comes with a spike in temperature, tender lymph nodes, chills, and extreme sensitivity to hot or cold food, and shouldn’t be taken for granted.
There have been recorded cases where the abscess transcends the tooth into the jaw and nearby oral tissue, which results in a swollen face. Even though the facial swelling occurs on the side where the abscess is, it can affect the entire face. A tooth abscess can be a matter of life and death. Therefore, the sooner you seek help, the better.
Your oral cavity requires consistent optimum care. As already mentioned in the introduction, once your adult teeth come in, you have no other natural teeth reserved should you lose them. Besides flossing and brushing regularly, make dental appointments a crucial part of your oral care routine.
Leave a Reply