Handing Big & Small Dental Emergencies in Your Family

Do you have a dental emergency? Call our Burke, VA dental office immediately at 703-978-5253. We see many emergency patients same-day. If we are closed, our voicemail will give you an after-hours number to call. Our team is dedicated to your dental health, so we’ll do whatever we can to help.

Not all dental emergencies are the same. Here are some of the smaller emergencies and what you should do for each.

Small Dental Emergencies

– Something tough is stuck between your teeth and causing pain.

Popcorn and similarly tough foods can sometimes cause pain when they get stuck between your teeth, especially near the gums. Use floss to gently remove the object. You can also swish water around your mouth to dislodge it.

– You can taste blood after you brush or see some in the sink.

It’s not normal to bleed after brushing and flossing. This is likely a sign that you have gingivitis, the early stage of gum disease. The only thing to do is call our Burke, VA dental office and schedule an appointment with our dentists. Our dental lasers are a modern gum disease treatment that not every dental office in Virginia has available.

– You got a small cut on your lip, tongue, or inside of your cheek.

With any small cut, the key is to stop the bleeding. Apply direct pressure with a sterile gauze or cloth. If you cannot, then visit your local emergency room as soon as possible. As long as you can stop it, call us to schedule an appointment for as soon as possible.

Call us at 703-978-5253 if you are ever unsure if an emergency is small or big. Our dentists are highly trained, so they can help you determine what’s best to do next.

Big Dental Emergencies

– You have a deep, bleeding cut on your lip, tongue, or cheek.

Grab something sterile like gauze and put pressure on the cut. This is to stop the bleeding. If it won’t stop, go to your closest emergency room. That’s the most important thing to worry about here. If the bleeding does end, call us at 703-978-5253 to see if an emergency appointment will help.

– You chipped one of your teeth.

Enamel has no nerve endings, so you can chip a tooth and not feel any pain. However, anything strong enough to chip enamel probably did some damage to the inside of your tooth. Call Fox Family Dentistry immediately. You’ll get a special after-hours number to call if we are not open yet.

– Your dental crown is loose or comes off.

If a crown is loose, try your best to leave it alone until you call us for an emergency appointment. If the crown comes off, you can use dental cement (available at most drug stores) as a temporary glue to hold the crown in place. Either way, call us at 703-978-5253 as soon as you can.

– A tooth is loose but still in there.

A loose tooth might be saved, but only if you can leave it alone. Don’t play with it to see how lose it is. Instead, call our Burke, VA dental office immediately. We are often able to see patients the same day they call with an emergency.

– A part of your tooth broke off.

First, don’t panic. It’s likely very painful. Use cold packs and non-aspirin pain relievers to manage the pain. If there is bleeding, visit your local emergency room immediately. If not, gather the piece(s) and call us for an emergency appointment.

– A tooth has been knocked out.

Gently rinse the tooth off with water. Then place it in a small container with enough milk or water to cover the tooth entirely. Call our Burke, VA dental office immediately, and bring the lost tooth with you if you can. We’ll do everything we can to help, including replacing the tooth if necessary with a dental bridge.

The key in all dental emergencies is to call us at 703-978-5253. Let us worry about whether it’s a small or big emergency. After all, our dentists have the right mix of experience and training to help you in a crisis – and to help fix the problem as well.