An emergency pediatric dentist is someone who can help you with your child’s dental needs in the event that they have an accident or fall off of a piece of playground equipment, or whatever happens.
Emergency pediatric dentist
If you have children, you no doubt know the children can be accident-prone. They don’t even mean to be. All that youthful energy can lead to kids falling off of play structures, running into tables or countertop edges, or falling off their bike. Most times, kids can just dust themselves off and get back up again. But sometimes, kids will suffer dental injuries. This can be anything from knocking out a tooth, to breaking a tooth, to causing cheek or gum damage. Fortunately, there are specialists like an emergency pediatric dentist who can help get your child back on the road to recovery.
We’ll learn more about emergency pediatric dentists in just a moment along with some common dental emergencies, but first let’s take a moment to see what some of the experts of pediatric dentistry have to say about emergency pediatric dentist in Miami FL.
Pediatric dentistry is a specialty subset of general dentistry that provides both basic and restorative dental care to infants, children, and teens (Shah S, 2017).
Some of the things that pediatric dentists do include supervising and observing facial growth and development, caring for dental cavities, helping prevent dental cavities, sedation dentistry, and helping parents of special needs children get the care that they need (Shah S, 2017).
A good pediatric dentist will have all the necessary skills to help treat conditions and provide preventative care at every stage of your child’s dental and physical development (Shah S, 2017).
What is considered a dental emergency in children? Emergency dentist pediatric near me
A dental emergency occurs anytime that a tooth is damaged or your child has dental bleeding or severe dental pain. These conditions need to be seen by an emergency pediatric dentist as soon as possible.
The causes of common pediatric dental emergencies are as varied as the number of children out there. It can range from falls, sports accidents, falling off the bike, and accidental hits from a sibling to running into the end of a table, or any other number of situations.
Sometimes, tooth decay or gum infections that have gone untreated can lead to a dental emergency as well. It can be scary for you as a parent to suddenly realize you need an emergency dentist, but by doing a little bit of background research first, you will be ready if and when the time comes.
Sometimes if children don’t receive proper pediatric dental care, they may end up with an infected baby tooth. This can lead to an abscess or a pocket of pus that forms around or under the tooth. This can make it very hard for your child to eat properly, and it may give them a lot of pain. You need to get this treated as soon as possible because the infection may spread and your child may need overall antibiotics. They may have swelling that is visible in their cheeks depending on where the tooth is located. They might even have a fever. A cold compress on the area can help reduce both the swelling and pain until you can get your child to an emergency dentist.
It is quite common that when children are playing they may break a tooth when they fall off their bike or they take a tumble from playground equipment. The tooth may bleed or it might not. You need to seek treatment as soon as possible from an emergency dental care clinic in order to get the break taken care of. If you are able to find the piece of broken tooth or pieces of broken teeth, put them into a bag and bring them with you to the emergency room. It may even mean that you are able to save the tooth if you can do this. If you can’t find the piece, that’s okay. Don’t take time to try to find the piece; rather get your child to an emergency pediatric dentist as soon as possible.
Of particular concern are permanent teeth that get broken or knocked out. Because these are the permanent teeth, a knocked out tooth needs to be found and preserved as well as possible so you can take it to the emergency room with you. It is recommended to put the tooth into a small cup with milk to keep the tooth moist so it can be reinserted into the socket as soon as possible. You should avoid handling the tooth as much as possible to keep down the risk of infection once it does get reintroduced to the jaw. Flushing the area with a warm water gargle may make it feel better temporarily.
Why are child dental examinations important? Pediatric emergency dentist
It’s important for your child to get to a pediatric dentist as soon as their first tooth erupts, or by their first birthday at least. This is because your pediatric dentist will be able to assess your child’s teeth and jaw and be able to let you know how to prevent dental cavities from forming in the milk teeth. This all will help your child have a healthy mouth and not suffer damage or decay to the adult teeth that are already forming in their little jaw.
At their first dental visit, your pediatric dentist will also give you recommendations on how to start caring for their little teeth and tips and tricks to help your child overcome habits like thumb sucking or extended use of pacifiers. They will even go over how to start to brush and use dental floss on their teeth.
Will urgent care give me pain meds for tooth pain? Emergency pediatric dentist near me
Generally speaking, yes, if you have to go to urgent care, you will often be given some pain medications and/or antibiotics to take care of the situation. However, you will also be instructed to schedule an appointment with your regular dentist as soon as possible to get a more long-term solution started for your dental pain.
When should I contact an emergency dentist? Emergency pediatric dentists near me
You will want to contact emergency dentist as soon as possible after you have had knocked out teeth or an object caught in your teeth, or any other dental emergency. The faster that you can get treatment, the more likely you are going to be able to save the tooth.
Sometimes, dental emergencies also mean that your cheeks, gums, or lips have been damaged in an impact. The faster that you can get to the dentist, ideally within half an hour of the incident, the better your chances of a positive outcome.
You will likely want to take some time to find emergency dental services near you so that when the time comes you don’t have to try to find someone when you’re already stressed.
Reference:
Shah S. (2017). Paediatric dentistry- novel evolvement. Annals of medicine and surgery (2012), 25, 21–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2017.12.005
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