Any injury to your gums and teeth can be potentially serious and should not be ignored. Here’s a quick guide of what to do in a dental emergency before visiting your dentist. This is a kind of first aid process which an individual, who is suffering from the injury to gums and teeth, should be followed prior to visiting the dentist or the physician.

Toothache: Before you rush to the dentist, you need to ensure that you have carefully rinsed your mouth with warm water and salt. This will give you some relief until your reach your dentist as it will kill any bacteria. If your face is swollen, apply a cold compress in the area and never put any pain killer directly to the gum. Take some over the counter pain medication and visit your Dr. Make sure that the medicine is light and appropriate for the use.

Chipped or broken tooth: Save any pieces, rinse with warm water, apply cold compress in the area to avoid swelling and relieve pain. This will help relieve some of the pain until you can get to a dentist to fis your tooth or teeth

Knocked out tooth: Retrieve tooth by the crown and don’t touch the root or any tissue around it. Especially if your hands are not properly washed since it may lead to an infection in the area where the tooth has fallen out. Rinse with saline solution or milk and put it back in the socket. If not possible, put it in a container with milk or saline solution and see your dentist right away, knocked out teeth have a higher chance of re-positioning if the injure is treated before 1 hr.

Extracted (partially dislodged) tooth: Don’t try to push it in. Apply cold compress and visit your dentist.

Lost crown: Retrieve the crown and bring it to the dentist office. If you can’t go to the Dr., get some over the counter dental cement and put it back in place. Never use crazy glue because this may lead to more severe problems in future.