You do what you can to keep your teeth healthy and strong.

You brush your teeth every day, twice per day. You floss regularly, even if not every single day. You also make professional dental cleanings and exams part of your oral care routine.

Even so, you may find yourself in the midst of a dental emergency someday. If that happens — and we hope for your sake that it doesn’t — then you should call 281-367-5900 as soon as you can. Our team at Smiles by Dr. Chai in The Woodlands, TX wants to end your pain and get your smile back on track.

What Should You Do?

It only takes a moment. You could be walking down the street minding your own business. As you turn a corner, a jogger runs into you. That collision could knock the wind out of you or knock out one of your teeth.

Would you know what to do in that situation?

In addition to calling our office as quickly as you can, you should do a few things. If you can find the missing tooth, pick it up by the crown. Avoid touching the roots if you can. In some situations, it might be possible to save the tooth.

You will want to rinse your mouth. Bleeding is common when a tooth is knocked out, so you should rinse your mouth and repeat until the bleeding stops. It may be beneficial to use gauze to soak up blood between rinses.

You also may experience pain and swelling after a dental trauma. To reduce swelling, you may want to apply an ice or cold pack to the affected area. You also can take over-the-counter pain medicine if that helps.

If you can, place the tooth back in its socket and leave it there until you are able to see one of our doctors.

What You Can Expect

For a lot of people, emergency dental care can lead to dental anxiety. It’s a difficult situation, and when you are already in pain, you might worry that your treatment will be painful, too.

Stopping your pain is one of our first priorities. With our sedation dentistry, we can give you something to block your pain and put your mind at ease. Once we address the immediate problem, we can discuss ways to restore your smile.

When a tooth has been knocked out, that often means finding a tooth replacement. One of the best ways to do that is by getting a dental implant to support a dental crown. This can restore your smile and allow you to eat the foods you love once again.

Count On Us

Missing teeth are just one example of a dental emergency. You may suffer a broken or cracked tooth. You could have a tooth infection that leads to toothache as well.

Please know that our team at Smiles by Dr. Chai is ready to help you with all of these problems and more. All you have to do is call 281-367-5900, and we’ll do everything we can to see you as soon as we are able.