What should I do if I am in pain?
Call the surgery as
soon as possible. An appointment will be arranged for you to see
the dentist within 24hours. If we believe you need to be seen more
urgently, this will be taken into account.
We offer two
emergency slots as a minimum each day, one at 10am and one at 2pm
which are given out on a first come first served basis to patients
in pain. If we are fully booked we can provide you with alternative
emergency numbers to be seen day/night, or NHS direct can also help
on 08454647.
If you experience any difficulty breathing due to swelling in your
mouth, you should be seen immediately. A&E departments would also
see you in these circumstances.
Sometimes routine
appointments are cancelled at short notice, so it is always worth
ringing us to see if there have been any cancellations if you feel
you need to be seen sooner.
What if I have
fractured my tooth, but I am not in pain?
The tooth still
needs to be seen by a dentist as soon as possible. To be seen
quicker, it may be the case that only a short appointment can be
made to put a temporary filling in or give you a prescription to
keep the tooth free from pain and infection until it can be treated
permanently. In the meantime, you should aim to keep the tooth as
clean as possible. Some pharmacists sell temporary filling kits if
you cannot attend the surgery as soon as you would like.
If the broken
tooth does start to become painful, ring the surgery as soon as
possible and explain that this is the case.
What if a tooth
is knocked out?
If possible, the
following steps should be adhered to as far as can be managed:
-
Hold the tooth
by the crown (the end in the mouth and not the more pointed root)
and rinse any debris off gently under a running tap.
-
Place the tooth
back in the socket if possible and bite gently down on a tissue
-
If the tooth
does not go back in, place the tooth in milk or salt water or, in
the case of adults, in the cheek inside the mouth so it can be
bathed in saliva. Children should not hold the tooth in the mouth
for risk of swallowing/inhalation.
-
Teeth placed
back in the mouth within 1hour of being knocked out have a much
better chance of being saved. Teeth placed back in the mouth
after 1 hour may have dried out and may not last. Therefore, IT
IS IMPORTANT TO GET TO YOUR DENTIST WITHIN 1 HOUR OF THE TOOTH
BEING KNOCKED OUT.
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