Preventing Dental Emergencies

dental-emergenciesWhile there’s no real way to prevent all dental emergencies, particularly those resulting from some sort of trauma, there are a few preventative measures you can take to help head off a dental emergency before it occurs. Below are three suggestions from our cosmetic dentist, Dr. Peter Ciampi.

Wear a Mouthguard

We see a lot of patients with sports-related oral injuries at our practice. Oftentimes, kids will be playing a sport while not wearing a mouthpiece, and when they get an elbow to the face or get hit in the mouth with a ball, they end up cutting the inside of their mouth or breaking a tooth. A great way to prevent this from happening is to consider a mouthpiece.

At our office, Dr. Ciampi custom-makes mouthguards depending on the sport the patient plays. Additionally, for high impact sports – such as, wrestling, karate, MMA, or anything of the sort – he can even design multi-laminated mouthguards to provide extra protection.

Avoid Using Teeth as Tools

We’ve all done it; opened up a wrapper or a bag of chips using our teeth. The problem is, this can lead to significant dental issues more often than you might think. If you have some bonding or even a little microcrack in your tooth you didn’t even know was there, you could easily end up chipping or fracturing your tooth. Not using your teeth as a tooth is a simple way to avoid these issues.

Receive Routine Checkups

A number of dental issues often go undetected without professional care, so visiting the dentist regularly to get your teeth checked can help prevent a dental emergency before it occurs. By detecting issues like cavities, abscesses, and decay in their earliest stages of progression, dentists can often address the issues before they manifest into much more serious problems requiring extensive treatment.

By following these three suggestions, you may be able to help prevent a number of dental emergencies in your, or your child’s, future. If you have any questions, or you would like to schedule an appointment at our office, please contact Spring Lake Dental Care today.