Making sure you and your family are equipped to handle a dental emergency is important. An unexpected injury can derail your day and require valuable time to be spent at the dentist’s office receiving restorative care. If you want to make sure that you avoid further damaging your smile while waiting to see a dentist, it’s beneficial if you have a dental emergency kit on hand. But what should be included? Read on to find out.
Why Should a Dental Emergency Kit Be Important to Have?
You never know when a dental emergency might occur. Whether it is at home, work, or on vacation, a sudden fall or toothache can arise that causes you to experience pain that without treatment will only worsen.
Having a kit that is full of essential items that are designed to stop bleeding, cease inflammation, and most of all, reduce pain can be one of the most helpful additions while you wait to see your dentist for more intensive care.
What Should Be Included in a Dental Emergency Kit?
Knowing what you should keep in your dental emergency kit requires knowing what will protect your smile best. Here is a list of items you’ll want to make sure are included:
- Clean gauze
- Your dentist’s phone number
- Dental wax
- Dental cement
- An ice pack
- Cotton balls
- Dental floss
- A dental mirror
- Ibuprofen or another OTC pain reliever
- Topical anesthetic
- Latex gloves
- Salt
- Denture adhesive
- A small container
How Can My Dentist Help?
When calling your dentist’s office to let a member of their team know that you’ve suffered an injury, you’ll find that they not only take down your information and schedule an appointment time, but they also offer first-aid tips.
When having a dental emergency kit nearby, you can easily follow these instructions to minimize the potential threat of further harm to your smile. Using the items inside your kit, you can stop the bleeding and reduce pain before you even get to your dentist’s office. This will make the process easier once you arrive.
After taking images of your smile and performing a visual examination of your mouth, your dentist will determine the cause of the injury and how best to fix it using one of the many available restorative options.
Your smile doesn’t have to suffer while waiting to see your dentist. With a well-stocked emergency kit, you can improve your chances of a swifter and more successful emergency visit.
About the Author
Dr. L. Blaine Kennington is an emergency dentist who wants patients to know how to care for their smiles should an injury occur. While he and his team will deliver timely and in-depth treatment to fix the underlying problem, equipping patients with at-home techniques and tools to care for their smiles in the meantime is essential. If you or a family member has a chipped or damaged tooth that needs emergency care, visit our website or call (360) 703-9092.