You probably won’t see it coming. Dad gets an elbow in the mouth during the family football game and loses a crown. Mary bites into a turkey sandwich and finds a bone, cracking her tooth in the process. Or maybe you are jockeying for one of those 50-inch, high definition televisions on sale for Black Friday, and in the scuffle, you get pushed into a store shelf and knock out a tooth.

What do you do when these things happen? The first thing you should do is call Desert Family Dental. We have flexibility built into our schedule to accommodate dental emergencies. Call our Mesa, AZ dental office right away at (480) 838-4185, and we will fit you in as soon as possible.

Emergencies are Top Priority

Even if you are not our patient, if you have a dental emergency, call us right away. Dr. Scott Lee knows that in an emergency, time is crucial, so he places emergency patients at the top of their priorities. We offer free emergency exams and x-rays, and find that very often, a quick procedure will alleviate pain and the patient can be on his way. The doctors handle all kinds of dental emergencies including, but not limited to, teeth that are cracked, broken, or knocked out, severe tooth pain or sensitivity, objects stuck between the teeth, and trauma to the mouth and gums. Call us as soon as an emergency happens, so we can give you instructions on how to handle the emergency until you can get to our office.

Handling Emergencies at Home

We understand that emergencies can happen at any time, including times when our office is not open. For emergencies such as severe trauma or injuries involving bleeding that won’t stop, do not wait. Go to the emergency room and get help immediately. For other injuries, there are steps you can take at home until you can reach our office. Keep this list handy at home.

• Toothache – Thoroughly rinse your mouth with warm water and use dental floss to gently remove any food lodged between the teeth. To reduce swelling, apply a cold compress on the outside of the mouth, over the sore area.
• Chipped or Broken Teeth – Rinse the mouth with warm water, then rinse any loose pieces that you recovered. To reduce bleeding, place a piece of gauze over the wound, and apply moderate pressure until bleeding stops. Use a cold compress on the outside of the mouth to control swelling.
• Tooth knocked out – The first thing you should do is find the tooth. Pick it up by the crown and rinse the root with water, without scrubbing or removing any tissue. If you can, try to put the tooth back in the socket, but do not force it. If you cannot reinsert the tooth, place it in a small container with milk, water with a bit of salt, or a tooth preservation product that has the ADA seal of approval. Try to get to us right away, as teeth have the best chance of being saved within one hour of being displaced.
• Object caught between teeth – Try using dental floss to carefully remove the object. If you can’t remove it that way, come see us as soon as possible. Whatever you do, don’t try to pry the object out with any kind of sharp object. These will scratch the surface of your tooth and may cut into your gums.
• Lost Crown – If your crown falls off and the tooth is hurting, go to the store and get some clove oil and use a cotton swab to apply it to the area that is in pain. If you can fit the crown back over the tooth, apply some dental cement, denture adhesive or toothpaste to the inside and slip it over the tooth. This should hold it in place until you can get to our office.
• Lost filling – If you can’t get to us right away, you can stick a small bit of chewed, sugarless gum in the cavity. DO NOT use gum with sugar.

These are just a few ways to attend to your injuries until you can get in to see Dr. Lee. If you have an emergency during our regular business hours, we will do our best to fit you in as soon as possible.

Call Us in a Dental Emergency

We know that in life, accidents happen. When one happens to you, call our Mesa, AZ dental office at (480) 838-4185, and we will get you in to see Dr. Lee as quickly as possible.