mildura dental group (Emergency Care)


	Mildura Dental Group operates in a high class, modern environment and combine the latest technology, outstanding clinical skills, valuable dental experience and a caring approach to dentistry to provide your family and yourself with an extremely high quality dental care service

Mildura Dental Group
183 Walnut Ave, Mildura, Vic, 3500
Ph: (03) 5021 2150
Fax: (03) 5021 2494
reception@milduradentist.com.au

Emergency Care

Most of us have a first aid kit at home and perhaps even in the car. But what if something should happen to a tooth, would your first aid kit be able to handle it? What would you do if a crown or filling falls out? Or if a child knocks out a permanent tooth, or breaks a wire on their braces? And what would you do if you got a toothache out in the middle of nowhere? Of course, the advice below is only to get you through until you can see a dentist.

We recommend adding the following items to your first aid kit:

Clove oil, a natural pain reliever
A dental mirror (ask us where to find one)
Small cotton pellets
Petroleum jelly (Vaseline)
Dental floss
Soft dental wax (ask us for some)
Instructions for temporary dental first aid, (below).

If you lose a filling
Pain is the main issue. If you aren’t in pain, simply keep the area clean, and make an appointment to see us as soon as you can. If there is pain dip a cotton pellet in a little clove oil and place it in the tooth. Don’t just dab it, put the whole cotton pellet in the tooth and leave it there. This should minimize the pain until you can get to our office. Caution: Never put an aspirin on your tooth because aspirin is an acid and can burn your gum.
If you have a sharp corner to a broken tooth, take a small piece of dental wax and push it over the sharp corner. Often in these situations the tooth is not sore, but you can cut your tongue or cheek.

If you break a back tooth
The same advice applies as for a lost filling. Broken pieces cannot be reattached so there is no need to keep them.

If you break a front tooth
Don't lose the pieces because they can often be reattached. Keep the pieces moist in milk (or water, if milk is unavailable) and come to see us as soon as possible.

If a cap or crown falls out
Remove the crown and coat the inside of it with the Vaseline and gently place it back on the tooth. The Vaseline will help to hold in place. Come to our office as soon as you can.

If a wire breaks on braces
To minimize the discomfort of orthodontic wire protruding from your teeth, cover the sharp end with a small piece of dental wax. If you don’t have any wax, use a piece of pre-chewed sugarless gum. It’s not ideal, but it gets the job done until you can see your dentist.

If a tooth is knocked out
If it’s a baby tooth, don’t worry about it. If it’s a permanent tooth gently rinse off any dirt with milk (or water, if milk is unavailable) and try to gently put it back into the socket. Don’t scrub the tooth as this will damage it and avoid touching the root surface as much as possible. You can hold the tooth in place with a gauze pad or clean washcloth. If you can’t replace the tooth, the next best place to keep it is in the mouth, between the cheek and gum so as to keep it moist. If that’s not possible place it in a glass of milk. If you have no milk, wrapping it in glad wrap will also help. Time is critical in this situation. You must get to a dentist as soon as possible. The longer a tooth is out of the mouth, the chances of saving the tooth decrease.

If a tooth can be replanted within 30 minutes, the chance of success is high.

If a tooth is loosened/shifted
Come to our office immediately. Avoid using the tooth or touching it too much until you see us.

Cracked Teeth
Picture yourself sitting down to enjoy a meal. As you chew you suddenly get a sharp pain from a tooth. Maybe the tooth is also sensitive to hot or cold and perhaps it starts to ache. It's likely that you've got a condition called "cracked tooth." A cracked tooth looks intact from the surface but, due to a hairline crack often not visible to the naked eye, it hurts to bite on.

Cracked teeth are a growing problem because people are keeping their teeth longer, many of which are weakened and undermined by fillings. Unfortunately, once a tooth cracks, it requires a crown (a protective cover that holds a tooth together) and possibly a root filling as well. If the crack is bad enough you may even lose the tooth. That's why I recommend crowns for any teeth that are obviously weak.

What are the symptoms of a cracked tooth?

Sharp pain on chewing, especially when you release the biting pressure.
Sensitivity to hot and cold.
Constant toothache.

What are the major causes of cracked teeth?

Fillings - teeth with fillings in them are weaker.
Habits - clenching, grinding or chewing on hard objects or food.
Accident - biting down hard on a bone or pip.

What do I do if I suspect a tooth is cracked?
Come and see me as soon as possible. Cracks don't heal on their own they only get worse; and the longer you wait the more likely you are to need a root filling or even lose the tooth.

There are 3 types of cracks. A simple crack misses the nerve of the tooth, a complex crack has reached the nerve of the tooth, and a split has gone into the root of the tooth.

The treatment runs as follows. It's impossible to tell by looking which type of crack the tooth has, so unless there is a constant ache we assume it's a simple crack. We prepare the tooth and place a temporary crown on it. 90% of the time the tooth gets better within 2 days. If this happens then we place the permanent crown and all is well. If the tooth doesn't get better then we do a root filling prior to placing of the crown. There is an additional cost for this and this fixes 90% of the teeth that didn't respond to the first treatment. If a tooth still doesn't get better after the root filling then unfortunately it must be extracted.

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