Helping A Child With A Broken Tooth

Posted May 12, 2021

When your little one breaks a tooth, this means that emergency dental care is needed. After all, even a minor chip could eventually mean harmful cavities or infection. In today’s blog, your Dallas, TX, pediatric dentist is ready to offer care. In today’s blog, we’re talking about dental emergencies, and how you should respond to one your child experiences.

What to Do When a Kid Chips a Tooth

If your little one chips or breaks a tooth, we suggest helping them rinse with warm water and then using a bit of cloth or gauze to stem any bleeding. If you recover any pieces of the tooth, please do so and bring them with you. If this isn’t possible, don’t worry, we can still repair the damage! Give your child an over-the-counter pain reliever to reduce discomfort, and use a cold compress or ice pack against the side of the face to control swelling. Then give us a call. Even if the issue occurs outside of normal business hours, we will schedule a time to see you and address your child’s injury quickly. However, if the issue is potentially life threatening, then please call 911 right away.

Seeing Us For Emergency Care

Even if the damage appears quite minor, we still suggest scheduling a visit. Often even small chips or cracks could expose the inner dentin, enabling painful cavities and even dental infections to occur. Your child risks losing a baby tooth early, which could increase the risk of misalignment and the need for orthodontics in the teen years.

When you see us, we will carefully examine their smile to assess the damage. Our team is experienced in making kids feel welcome and calm, and our exam will let us choose the most appropriate treatment option. We could use composite resin, the same material used in our fillings, to repair minor chips. For major damage or cracked teeth, we could place a custom dental crown.

Keeping Little Smiles Safe

Remember to have your child wear a mouthguard if he or she plays sports at all. An athletic mouthguard limits the risk of damaged teeth. Be sure he or she brushes and flosses daily, and attends routine six-month visits. Care that keeps teeth strong also limits the chances of an injury. If you have any questions, then please don’t hesitate to contact our team today.

Do You Have Questions About Emergency Dentistry?

Our team knows how to offer care for kids of all ages experiencing a dental emergency. To learn about how we approach common dental emergencies, then  by calling Pediatric Dental Care at Casa Linda in Dallas, TX today at 214-321-4880. We proudly serve patients who live around Casa Linda and all surrounding Dallas communities.