What To Do If Your Tooth Breaks

Ouch! Did your tooth just break? Don’t worry, it’s going to be alright. It’s more common than you may think it is. Whether your tooth broke from an accident or from eating hard candy, breaking your tooth can be scary and traumatizing. But don’t fear! We’re here to guide you through the repair process.

Here are some steps you can take if your tooth breaks.

Broken Tooth? Here’s What You Can Do:

1. Rinse your mouth with warm flat or salt water.

Rinse your mouth in order to clear out blood or dirt and to collect any tooth pieces in your mouth.

2. If possible, gather all broken pieces of your tooth. If the tooth fell out entirely, preserve the tooth by placing it in milk, saline, or warm water.

Broken teeth or teeth that have been completely knocked out can still be saved and placed in the mouth again! It’s important to keep them alive and healthy. The fats and sugars in milk give the tooth sustenance until you get to your dentist. If you don’t have milk handy, saline and warm water can keep the tooth in a relatively safe environment for a short period of time.

If your tooth hasn’t completely fallen out, do not pull on it — leave it in its place and schedule an appointment as soon as possible.

3. If you’re in pain, take some acetaminophen or any other over-the-counter pain reliever of your choice.

Don’t suffer from discomfort! Take a pain reliever to help with the pain and reduce swelling in the area. Make sure to tell your dentist what you took when you go in for treatment.

4. Apply a cold compress to the face to reduce swelling and trauma.

By reducing swelling and facial trauma, you should experience less pain and lessen any bleeding in the mouth. This will also help speed up your healing time.

5. If your tooth is jagged, try applying a small piece of wax or sugar-free gum to the sharp part to protect your tongue.

Your tongue is an important muscle, you’ll want to keep it safe. Minimize additional pain by making sure your tooth won’t cut your tongue or the inside of your cheek.

6. Call a dentist who practices emergency dentistry as soon as possible.

Don’t wait to be seen! You shouldn’t have to live in discomfort. Find a dentist willing to perform emergency dentistry so you can quickly address your injury. You wouldn’t wait to see a doctor if you broke your arm, with that in mind don’t wait to see the dentist if you break your tooth.

If you or a loved one broke a tooth due to blunt force trauma and has lost consciousness, please call 911 or visit an emergency room before visiting the dentist.

Near Washington County in Maryland? Call us now and we’ll make sure to see you quickly as an emergency patient.

Common treatments for a broken tooth include:

• Cementing the broken tooth back together.
• Using dental composite or filling material to fill in a chip.
• Creating a crown or veneer to seamlessly and permanently cover the broken tooth.
• A root canal may be performed to clear out any infection if one has settled in.
• An implant may be placed if the tooth is unable to be saved.

We hope that you feel like you’ll be prepared if your tooth breaks! Worst comes to worst, just remember to rinse your mouth, preserve your tooth, and call your dentist as soon as possible.