More than 3.5 billion people worldwide suffer from dental and oral problems, but that doesn’t mean your child has to be one of them. Some dental problems don’t need to be treated right away, but others may be dental emergencies and may need immediate care. But how can you tell if you need to bring your child to an emergency pediatric dentist?
How can you tell whether your child has an ordinary dental problem or a dental emergency? Keep reading and learn more about whether or not you should take your child to your local Nicholasville pediatric dentist to treat a dental emergency.
Your Child Has Been Experiencing Constant Tooth Pain
Tooth pain can be a sign of a variety of dental problems, but not all of those problems are dental emergencies. Sometimes, dental pain may come and go. If your child’s dental pain comes and goes and is not very severe, it is not likely that you need to take your child to see an emergency kids’ dentist.
However, you should be more concerned if your child has been experiencing continuous tooth pain. If this is the case, your child may have a much more serious dental problem. For example, your child may have a tooth infection.
Tooth infections sometimes happen as a result of severe tooth decay, although they may happen for other reasons as well. Whatever the case, a tooth infection involves severe, throbbing pain around the affected tooth. The infection is usually situated deep within the tooth and requires a root canal as treatment.
The Details
If you don’t treat a tooth infection right away, the results could be disastrous. When left untreated, the tooth infection may spread to other teeth. This can damage the other teeth and can even lead to tooth loss.
In severe cases, the tooth infection can spread to the rest of the body and can even be fatal. This, of course, is not something you want to risk. If your child has been complaining about severe and persistent dental pain, it is best to take them to your Nicholasville children’s dentist as soon as possible.
Persistent tooth pain may also be a sign of an advanced cavity. It is also important to get this problem treated fast since an advanced cavity can lead to severe tooth damage and also tooth infections.
Your Child Has Lost Their Adult Teeth
Losing baby teeth is completely normal but losing adult teeth is a big problem. A child may lose their adult teeth for a variety of reasons. For example, your child might be in the middle of playing sports when a ball hits them in the mouth and knocks out one of their adult teeth.
Whatever the case, if your child happens to lose an adult tooth, it is important to get it treated as soon as possible. If you don’t act fast and bring your child to the best dentist for kids in your area, it will not be possible to replace the child’s tooth. Instead, you will have to get your child a dental implant instead.
If your child happens to lose an adult tooth, the best thing you can do is put the lost tooth in a glass of milk or water. Doing this will keep the roots of the tooth alive and moist. If the tooth is left dry, it will die before the dentist has time to replace the tooth back in the child’s mouth.
What You Need to Know
Keep the tooth in a glass of milk until you arrive at the dentist’s office. If the tooth has managed to survive, the dentist should be able to carefully place the tooth back into its socket. If all goes according to plan, the remaining roots of the tooth should grow back into the dental socket.
If so, the tooth should survive. However, as the tooth heals, it is important that your child doesn’t eat or do anything that could dislodge the tooth again. After several weeks, the tooth will be much sturdier than before and your child should be able to eat normal food again.
Your Child’s Gums Won’t Stop Bleeding
For both children and adults, bleeding gums is not a very serious problem. Your child’s gums may bleed after flossing or brushing their teeth. However, if your child’s gums tend to bleed very often, then this may be a sign of a much more serious dental problem.
One’s gums tend to bleed when gums are inflamed. This is usually the result of gum disease or gingivitis. Many people don’t know that they have gingivitis and it tends to be quite minor at first.
However, if left untreated, it can quickly become a much more serious condition known as periodontitis. This condition involves severe inflammation of the gums and it can even lead to tooth loss if left untreated. One of the symptoms of this condition is bleeding gums.
Bleeding gums may also mean that your child has a tooth infection. So, if you find that your child’s gums tend to bleed quite often, it is best to go to the dentist right away.
When to Bring Your Child to an Emergency Pediatric Dentist
There are many dental problems that children experience but not all of them are dental emergencies. You should always bring your child to an emergency pediatric dentist if he or she starts to experience a persistent dental problem. For example, persistent dental pain or bleeding gums may be a sign of a tooth infection.
Losing an adult tooth is also considered a dental emergency. To learn more, contact us here.