Whenever you are faced with some kind of emergency, regardless of the nature of the emergency, it can be difficult to know what to do. And the exact same goes for dental emergencies! After all, a few that we are going to mention are much more common than you would think.

Here are some tips on how to handle different dental emergencies before you can make it to the dentist office…

A broken or chipped tooth:

Before you hop in the car on the way to the dentist, the first thing you should do if you have a broken, cracked, or chipped tooth is to carefully and gently rinse your mouth out with water. Be sure to spit the remaining water into a strainer so that you can pick out any small or missing pieces of the tooth with your hands.

If you are bleeding, be sure to hold gauze in your mouth. Do so for about 10 minutes, or at least until you have reached the dentist’s office. If your mouth happens to be in any pain, you can keep a cold compress pressed to your cheek.

Your tooth has been knocked out:

This can be a really frightening situation, but luckily for you, dentists see this all of the time so there is no cause for great concern. Either way, if your tooth is knocked out, be sure to rinse it out so that no dirt or dust gets trapped inside. If there is any tissue attached to the tooth, do your best to not remove any of it before you get to the dentist.

Wash your mouth out with water, and hold gauze to the area where you have lost the tooth (as there will be blood). Be sure to put the tooth in a small, clean box on your way to the dentist. You can also put the tooth in a small cup filled with milk.