Pediatric Emergency Dental Care for Dental Trauma and Other Oral Emergencies

Maintaining optimal oral hygiene in your children is vital for a lifelong healthy smile. While home dental care and routine dental visits are important, you should also know about pediatric dental emergencies. Dental woes can strike anytime, and you should know how to restore your child’s oral health. 

Dental trauma is one of the most common dental emergencies in children. The most common causes of dental injuries include falls, fights, sports injuries, and falling with an object in the mouth. Whatever the reason, you should seek urgent dental care to preserve your child’s dental health. If your child faces a dental emergency in Mission Viejo, California, call South OC Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics immediately. Emergency dental care could be the difference between losing and saving your kid’s tooth.

Common Types of Dental Injuries in Children and What to Do

Dental trauma in children can happen at home or school, so parents and teachers should be informed about corrective care to prevent the situation from worsening. 

Following are some common dental injuries in children that need emergency dental care:

• Knocked-out (avulsed) tooth: The impact of sports injuries, car accidents, and falls can dislodge a tooth from its socket. When your child’s tooth has fallen out, find it, rinse it in water — only touch the crown — and place it in a container of milk. Call us immediately for urgent dental care
• Broken/fractured teeth: Rinse your child’s mouth with warm, salty water and use a cold compress to minimize swelling. Try to locate the tooth fragments and call us
• Bitten lip/tongue: If your child’s lip or tongue bite is severe enough to cause bleeding, it’s advised to cleanse the bite with water and apply a cold compress to the affected area to manage swelling. Contact us to determine how severe the bite is
• Broken braces: Broken metal braces can injure your gums, cheeks, and other soft tissues. Try using the eraser end of a pencil to reposition the wire into a more comfortable position. If this doesn’t work, cover the end with a cotton ball or small piece of gauze until you reach the dental office. Never try to cut the wire, as it can be swallowed

The treatment for dental emergencies depends on the type and extent of the injury. We can use a tooth filling or pediatric dental crowns to save damaged teeth. Sometimes, emergency dental extractions may be the best course of action to manage pain and preserve oral health. 

How to avoid dental injuries

While you can’t avoid pediatric dental emergencies entirely, there are several steps you can take to reduce their frequency and severity. 

Some include:

• Childproof your house to avoid falls and slips
• Consider a custom-fitted athletic mouthguard if your child is active in sports
• Don’t let your child chew on candies, ice, and other hard foods
• Use car seats for young children and encourage older ones to use seat belts

Whether it’s after hours or on a weekend, our dental team is ready to help you through the emergency. Add our number (949) 581-5800 to your contact list or pin it on your refrigerator for easy reference when you need urgent dental care. 

We serve numerous locations in California, including Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, Lake Forest, Laguna Beach, Ladera Ranch, San Clemente, Coto de Caza, and Dana Point, California.