Emergency Dental Care For Kids: Schedule A Dentist Appointment Upon Sighting Of These Oral Health Problems
Regular dentist check-ups are important to protect your kid's teeth and overall health. That's because their teeth affect their eating, mood, and appearance. Like other healthcare services, you should differentiate general dental care and emergency dental services. General dental care refers to routine checkups and minor oral health problems that bring no cause for alarm, and you can take time before taking your kids to the dentist. Emergency dental care refers to dealing with oral health problems that require immediate attention and have devastating effects on your kid's health if you don't deal with them. This piece provides an overview of kids' oral health problems requiring emergency dental services.
Severe Toothache
Your kid's tooth may hurt for a short time due to impacts such as a fist blow or falling. However, if they're experiencing a severe toothache that lasts long, it's a dental emergency, and you should seek professional help immediately. Several cases of severe toothaches result in dental emergencies. They include a cavity, infected tooth, oral trauma, and teeth grinding or bruxism, which results in serious issues if your child doesn't visit a doctor immediately. For example, an infection on a single tooth can spread to other teeth and your entire dental structure, resulting in complicated treatment procedures, which are more costly than if you had dealt with the problem at its onset.
Fractured or Cracked Tooth
Another sign of a dental emergency is huge visible cracks on your kid's tooth. They can get cracks from several issues, including biting hard food or items, poor eating habits, improperly placed dental fillings, tooth grinding, and trauma. Some cracks hurt or feel painful, while others aren't. Whatever the case, you should take your child to the dentist immediately to avoid further problems. They quickly examine your kid's tooth to know the type of crack and the most effective way to deal with it. For instance, the dentist may suggest several treatment options, such as bonding, cosmetic contouring, root canal, extraction, crown, and veneer.
Dental Abscess
A dental abscess is a bacterial infection that causes pus to build up in your teeth and gums. It's a dangerous oral health problem that requires emergency care. It's categorized as an emergency oral health problem, and failing to deal with it can cause an infection in your kid's sinus cavity. That may also result in the development of sepsis, a life-threatening infection that spreads to the throat and other parts of the body. If you fail to act on time, your kid may get hospitalized due to extended complications. Dentists drain the pus build-up in your kid's pulps and provide antibiotic therapy to deal with the infection. They may also suggest other treatment options, such as tooth extraction and root canal, depending on the severity of the condition.
Reach out to a local pediatric dentistry clinic to learn more about emergency dental care for kids.
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