Dental Emergencies

If you are a patient of Stillwater Dental and experience a dental emergency, please call us as quickly as possible. Our on-call staff will make arrangements for you to meet with one of our dentists and provide instructions on what to do until you can get to our office.

541-330-5952

If you are not a current patient of Stillwater Dental, please go to your nearest Urgent Care facility to receive immediate treatment.

If you have a broken jaw or trauma to your head or neck or have sustained another serious injury, call 911 or visit the emergency room before seeking dental treatment, even if your mouth has also been injured.

Handling Common Dental Emergencies

Floss to remove any food particles from your teeth. Rinse your mouth with warm water. Use a cold compress when there is swelling. Visit the dentist as soon as you can.

If it's a Cavity

A tooth may be undermined by a large cavity and cause the tooth to break. The tooth can become very painful if the cavity has reached the nerve. These teeth may need a root canal or a crown.

Save all the pieces of the tooth that you can find. Rinse your mouth and the tooth fragments with warm water. Apply a cold compress. Visit the dentist as soon as possible. Some types of chips, cracks, or fractures are relatively painless, but others may result in extreme pain. When you chip or fracture a tooth, contact our office immediately.

While you wait

  • If any part of the tooth has broken off, rinse it in lukewarm water and bring it with you to the appointment.
  • Apply gauze to any bleeding areas for 10 minutes or until the bleeding stops
  • Place an icepack or cold compress on the cheek over the area to minimize swelling and pain
  • Use a topical pain reliever
  • Broken teeth may present with little to no pain. They can be sharp to the cheeks, lips, or tongue.

First, contact our office immediately to make arrangements to meet with our dentists. Then place an ice pack or cold compress over the area to relieve swelling and discomfort. You may also use a mild pain reliever.

What to Expect

Our dentists will examine the dislodged or loosened tooth and reposition and stabilize it again in your mouth. If it remains in the mouth and is attached to the blood vessels and nerves, you may not need a root canal. If the tooth does not heal, a root canal treatment may be necessary.

If your tooth has been completely knocked out of the socket or displaced, call our office immediately.

For Permanent Teeth ONLY

  1. Rinse your mouth to remove blood or other debris.
  2. Pick up the tooth by the crown (chewing surface). Do not touch the root!
  3. If possible, gently rinse the root with water to clean it.
  4. Have the person (patient) who had the tooth knocked out lie on the ground or floor and tip their head back (if possible, place some kind of cushion under the head).
  5. On the count of 3, have the patient raise their leg at the same time that you push the tooth back into the socket. Once the tooth is back in the socket and at the same level as the surrounding teeth, hold it in place and meet your dentist at Stillwater Dental as soon as possible.
  6. Our dentists will splint the tooth in place and follow through with medication.

If you cannot do this, keep the tooth moist by holding it in the cheek pouch, or by placing it in milk, saline solution, your own saliva, a tooth preservation kit (available at most pharmacies) or in water.

Crowns or fillings may become loose due to a blow to the face or decay in the tooth beneath the restoration. If this happens, contact our office to make an appointment as soon as possible. You may experience heightened tooth sensitivity when you lose your restoration. In the meantime, keep your dental crown (if you have it) in a cool, safe place.

While you Wait

  • Clean the crown and affix it to the tooth with dental cement (available at pharmacies)
  • Smear the top of the tooth with cement to alleviate discomfort
  • Apply clove oil to the tooth for pain relief
  • Do NOT use any kind of glue to replace the crown on your tooth.

As long as the crown and the tooth are in good shape, we can re-cement the crown back on. Lost fillings can usually be replaced as well.

This type of pain can be felt in the jaw joint by your ear. It is especially painful when you move your jaw, such as opening or closing your mouth. You may suffer from TMJ if you experience frequent jaw pain or facial pain. For TMJ pain, you may need a bite guard, bite adjustment, and/or massage therapy.

Other TMJ Symptoms

  • Grinding, clicking or popping sounds in the jaw when you open and close your mouth
  • Inability to open your mouth wide to speak, yawn or chew
  • A locked or stuck jaw
  • Pain when chewing and biting
  • Pain in the neck, shoulders or ears
  • Frequent headaches

Dental Sedation

Oral Sedation is prescribed for patients before a dental procedure. It can help take the edge off of any discomfort and help you feel relaxed for your visit. It can be a great option for children who have a hard time holding still. Our Stillwater team is careful to monitor you throughout all procedures to keep you comfortable and safe.

When to Consider Sedation

  • Extreme tooth sensitivity
  • Fear of needles
  • A powerful gag reflex
  • Difficulty controlling body movement
  • Lengthy procedures
  • Difficulty becoming numb with normal injections

Types of Sedation

Oral Sedation is prescribed for patients before a dental procedure. It can help take the edge off of the stress and help you feel more relaxed before and during your visit. It is a great option for children who have a hard time holding still.

Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) is fast-acting. It is administered by breathing it in and takes 30 seconds to 4 minutes to start to work and wears quickly. It is a very common method of conscious sedation.

Intravenous Sedation (IV sedation) is given at the visit through an IV. It helps to control pain and discomfort and patients often feel like they have slept through the procedure.

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Don’t Wait! Contact Us Today

When you or someone in your family has an accident that affects your teeth or smile, you probably consider it a fairly major problem. In most cases, we are inclined to agree—although, obviously, some dental injuries are worse than others.

Regardless of the severity of the injury, we will make it right.