Emergency Dentist Beaverton

Quality Care for Urgent Dental Issues

Female patient with tooth pain visiting emergency dentist in Beaverton

Dental emergencies tend to strike without warning, and when they do, they often result in severe discomfort and damage. These types of dental issues should not go untreated for too long, which is why it’s recommended that you call Caring Smiles Dental right away to schedule an emergency dentistry appointment. Dr. Appelhans and the rest of our Beaverton dental team will work quickly to help get you out of your pain and restore your oral health.

Why Choose Caring Smiles Dental for Emergency Dentistry?

  • Wide Range of Treatment Options
  • Friendly Team That Puts Patients First
  • Modern Dental Office with the Latest Technology

How We Treat Dental Emergencies

Man in striped shirt with tooth pain
  • Schedule an Appointment: When a dental emergency occurs, your first step should be to call our office. Our helpful team members can provide any first-aid tips that might be applicable to your situation and make arrangements to see you as quickly as possible.
  • Emergency Exam: At your emergency appointment, we’ll take X-rays as needed and carefully examine your teeth and gums. Our goal will be to figure out what’s causing the problem and how severe the damage is.
  • Review Findings: Upon completing our emergency examination, we will walk you through our findings and explain what treatments are the best fit for your specific situation. You’ll always be given an estimate of the timeline and cost of a given treatment before you need to commit to it.
  • Give Your Smile the Care It Needs: Once you’ve agreed to a treatment plan, our team will take whatever steps have been deemed necessary to resolve your dental emergency and help you enjoy a healthy smile again.

The Most Common Dental Emergencies

The term “dental emergency” can be used to describe a wide range of oral health issues. No matter what form your emergency takes, it’s essential to seek the care your smile needs as soon as possible. Listed below are some examples of common emergencies that our team is ready to help treat.

Understanding the Cost of Dental Emergencies

Blonde woman sitting in dental chair smiling

Before we move forward with any sort of emergency dental treatment, we’ll make sure that you have an accurate idea of how much it will cost. We’ll also explain your options for making your care more affordable, such as dental insurance or financing. Bear in mind that dental emergencies tend to grow worse if they’re left untreated for too long; thus, seeing a dentist as soon as possible could help you avoid more complex problems and potentially make you less likely to need more expensive forms of care.

Keys to Preventing Dental Emergencies

Man in white shirt brushing his teeth

While we at Caring Smiles Dental are always happy to see our patients, it’s always better to prevent an oral health emergency than have to suffer and seek treatment for it. Thankfully, it’s easy to adopt a few smart habits that will considerably reduce your risk of developing oral infections and sustaining dental injuries. Here’s a quick look at a few great ways to keep your smile happy and healthy, but please contact our office in Beaverton if you’d like to know more.

Visit Your Dentist Regularly

Man smiles while driving to dentist’s office

The American Dental Association recommends seeing your dentist every six months for routine exams and cleanings. These regular appointments allow the team at Caring Smiles Dental to monitor your oral health, address problems in their early stages, and recommend better hygiene habits for you to practice at home. Seeing us twice a year is an excellent way to minimize your risk of experiencing a dental emergency.

Maintain Good Oral Hygiene at Home

Lady puts toothpaste on brush

Your daily oral hygiene regimen is your first line of defense against the harmful oral bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease. To keep your smile clean and healthy, be sure to brush at least twice, floss at least once, and rinse with antibacterial mouthwash every day.

Stick to a Nutritious Diet

Spread of healthy foods

Like all the other parts of your body, your teeth and gums need proper nutrition to stay in good shape. Be sure to enjoy plenty of items that are high in calcium, phosphorus, protein, and vitamins C and D while minimizing your intake of sugars, starches, and acids that can feed the nasty bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease.

Wear a Mouthguard

Man wears mouthguard

When playing sports or riding a bike, be sure to wear an athletic mouthguard that can protect your smile from injury. If you grind your teeth in your sleep, it’s important to wear a nightguard designed to protect your enamel from unnecessary wear. The team at Caring Smiles Dental can set you up with a customized protective appliance that offers superior protection.

Use Tools to Open Packages, Not Your Teeth

Man opens bottle with opener

Using your teeth to open packages or bottles is an excellent way to chip, crack, or otherwise destroy them. To prevent this, it’s best to invest in a suitable tool such as a box cutter or a bottle opener. It’s also important to refrain from chewing on inedible materials like wood, plastic, metal, ice, and fingernails.

Toothaches

Is my toothache a dental emergency? There are many reasons you may develop a toothache, ranging from minor issues like sinus pressure to severe problems such as a cavity or tooth infection. Your toothache should be treated by a dentist as soon as possible if you are experiencing any of the following symptoms:

  • Throbbing pain
  • A tooth that is broken, cracked, or chipped
  • A fever
  • Redness or swelling in the face
  • A bleeding tooth
  • If you have sustained an injury to the face or jaw

How you should handle a toothache: If you have a toothache, please call us as soon as possible. A phone call is the fastest and most direct way to get help without delay. If you are experiencing pain, you can take over-the-counter pain relievers, apply a cold compress to the face, and avoid chewing on the side of the mouth with the discomfort. If you notice a white, pimple-like bump on your gums, do not attempt to pop it. Also, don’t put aspirin or other pain relievers directly on your teeth or gums.

How we treat toothaches: To determine how to best treat your toothache, you will need to come into the office for an emergency dental exam. The treatment will depend entirely on the cause of the pain, and could be anything from a filling, crown, antibiotics, prescription mouthwash, gum disease treatment, or a tooth extraction.

Learn More About Tooth Extractions

Learn More About Gum Disease Treatment

Chipped Tooth

Is a chipped tooth a dental emergency?  While chipping a tooth isn’t usually considered an urgent emergency, you should still be seen by your dentist as soon as possible if it occurs. Leaving even a small chip untreated can cause the problem to get worse and could eventually lead to serious damage or tooth decay.

How you should handle a chipped tooth: If your tooth becomes chipped, rinse your mouth with warm saltwater to keep it clean and clear away any debris or fragments. Save any pieces you find and store them in either milk, saliva, saline, or a tooth preservation kit. If the edge is sharp or jagged, you can cover it with dental wax or sugarless gum to protect your soft tissues from injury. Once your mouth is safe, give us a call to schedule an emergency appointment.

How we treat chipped teeth: The good news is that in most cases, chipped teeth can be fixed with dental bonding. However, if the chip has occurred on a very visible tooth such as a front tooth, you may want to consider getting a veneer instead.

 Learn More About Dental Bonding

Learn More About Porcelain Veneers

Cracked Tooth

Is a cracked tooth a dental emergency? It depends on the severity of the crack.  Minor damage is not considered urgent, while severe damage should be treated right away. Unfortunately, not all cracks are visible, so if you notice any tooth sensitivity or pain when biting down following an injury to the face, it could be due to hidden damage.

How you should handle a cracked tooth: If you are experiencing a cracked tooth, first rinse your mouth out with warm saltwater. Then, if it hurts, you can apply a cold compress to reduce any swelling. You can also take an over-the-counter pain reliever. If there are any sharp edges, you can cushion the tooth with either dental wax or a piece of sugarless gum. If there are any loose pieces of tooth, save them in either a container of milk or of your own saliva. Then, give us a call to schedule an emergency appointment.

How we treat cracked teeth: If the damage to your tooth is minimal, we may be able to quickly repair it with dental bonding, which is done with the same material used in tooth-colored fillings. However, if it is more severe, it may require a crown to hold it together, or in severe cases it could need an extraction.

Learn More About Dental Bonding

Learn More About Dental Crowns

Learn More About Tooth Extractions

Very Sensitive Teeth

Are Very Sensitive Teeth a Dental Emergency?: Some cases of tooth sensitivity are mild and temporary. However, very sensitive teeth could potentially be considered a warning sign of a dental emergency if you experience intense pain or if the problem persists for days. In these cases, it’s best to see our team as quickly as possible so that we can check for decayed teeth or other oral health issues that may be to blame. 

How You Should Handle Very Sensitive Teeth: You should make a conscious effort to avoid hot, cold, spicy, acidic, or sweet foods that could trigger tooth sensitivity. Taking over-the-counter pain medication can also help. Our team can give you additional tips for managing tooth sensitivity at home when you call us to schedule an appointment.

How We Treat Very Sensitive Teeth: We’ll need to figure out what’s causing your dental sensitivity in the first place before we can determine your best options for treating it. For example, if the sensitivity is a side effect of tooth decay, we may be able to address it with a tooth-colored filling.

Knocked-Out Tooth

Is My Knocked-Out Tooth a Dental Emergency?: Yes, having a tooth knocked out should always be considered a dental emergency. Once your tooth is outside of your mouth, it can only remain viable for so long; as such, you need to act quickly if you want to have any chance of saving it. If you have a lost tooth in Beaverton, we highly recommend that you call us immediately. Ideally, you should try to get to our office in less than an hour. 

How You Should Handle a Knocked-Out Tooth: It’s important to locate a knocked-out tooth right away. Once you find it, be sure to pick it up by the end used for chewing; don’t touch the pointed root that’s normally hidden under the gums. If there’s any debris on the tooth, you should gently rinse it off with water, but do not scrub it or remove any tissues that are still attached. In order to preserve the tooth until you can get to our office, you can either put it back in its socket or place it in a container filled with milk or saline solution.

How We Treat Knocked-Out Teeth: Our team will attempt to save your knocked-out tooth whenever possible. That said, if the tooth in question is too badly damaged or has passed the point of no return, we may recommend having it replaced instead. A dental bridge, a partial denture, or a dental implant could potentially be used to fill the gap in your smile.

Learn More About Dental Bridges

Learn More About Dentures

Learn More About Dental Implants

Lost Filling or Crown

Is a Lost Filling or Crown a Dental Emergency?: Losing a filling or a crown won’t put your smile in any immediate danger. However, it will leave the exposed tooth more susceptible to further damage and infection. Thus, you should make arrangements to see our team as soon as you can so that we can properly address the problem.

How You Should Handle a Lost Filling or Crown: You may be able to temporarily put a lost dental crown back on the tooth using dental cement (which can be bought at various drugstores). In cases where reseating the restoration is not an option, you should at least make sure that it’s stored in a safe place so that you don’t forget to bring it with you to the dentist’s office.

How We Treat Lost Fillings or Crowns: If your current restoration is particularly old or badly damaged, we’ll likely recommend having it replaced. That said, a newer restoration that’s still in good condition can often be reattached. We’ll need to take a closer look at the filling or crown in question before we come to any decisions.

Broken Denture

Loose Permanent Tooth

Injury to the Gums, Lips, or Tongue

Jaw Pain

Something Stuck Between the Teeth