PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY DENTIST GARLAND
Here to Help Your Child’s Hurting Smile
When a dental emergency happens, it helps to know you have a capable and compassionate team in you and your child’s corner. That’s why Dr. Ben and our team proudly offer pediatric emergency dentistry for families in Garland and the surrounding areas. If your child is experiencing an injury and/or dental pain, don’t hesitate to contact us at once for fast assistance! We do our best to care for emergency situations on the same day as your call.
Why Choose Garland Pediatric Dentistry for Children’s Emergency Dentistry?
- Easy-to-Locate Dental Office in Garland
- Same-Day Emergency Appointments
- Numerous Sedation Options Available
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How We Treat Dental Emergencies
Here are three easy-to-follow steps for when your child is in need of urgent dental care:
- Call Our Office at Once – As soon as you’ve discovered that your child is experiencing a problem, don’t hesitate to call our office at once. We will schedule a visit as soon as possible, often even on the very same day. In the meantime, we can walk you through some helpful tips for alleviating discomfort.
- Attend Your Child’s Visit – Parents will be kept fully in the loop on our findings and how we’re planning to treat their urgent needs. We’ll perform a quick yet thorough examination, take X-rays if needed, and prioritize getting them out of pain as soon as you both arrive.
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Give Our Patient’s Smile the Care it Needs – Every emergency is inherently different, but no matter the nature of your child’s situation, we’ll work quickly to mend their smile.
The Most Common Dental Emergencies
Not every type of dental emergency causes outright pain and obvious symptoms. Knowing that Dr. Ben and our team are just a phone call away can help put you and your child at ease should a dental injury arise. Here are some of the most common situations that our pediatric dental team would consider urgent in nature.
Keys to Preventing Dental Emergencies
Although some dental emergencies happen due to things beyond your child’s control, in many instances, their emergency visit might have been avoided by taking the proper precautions.
With that in mind, continue reading to learn about a few proactive ways you can help your kid avoid urgent oral issues and the complex, costly services often required to treat them!
Schedule Routine Checkups
You might think your child’s mouth is perfectly healthy if you haven’t noticed immediate issues, but the truth is that they might develop hidden issues in places that can be hard to see, reach, or clean on their own at home, like below their gums, between teeth, or behind their molars.
You can help strengthen their smile to avoid potential problems by scheduling a routine checkup and cleaning with our team in Garland every 6 months. This allows us to monitor their health so we can catch and treat any areas of concern before they contribute to emergencies.
Maintain Good Oral Hygiene At Home
You can also help avoid issues by helping your child keep their teeth clean at home, too. For example, implementing a twice-daily dental hygiene routine removes harmful germs, plaque, and other debris that can cause tooth decay or gum disease.
If your child tends to avoid this routine, they may be more likely to participate if you brush your teeth together, turn it into a game, or provide appropriate, non-food-related rewards for maintaining their regimen consistently.
Provide a Nutritious Diet
Many snacks and drinks marketed to kids contain lots of sugar and other chemicals that can be harmful to their teeth. They attract bacteria that contribute to dental disease, and can also be acidic, which weakens their enamel.
You can support a healthier smile by providing a variety of wholesome foods to support your kid’s oral and overall health. For instance, milk contains calcium for strong teeth and bones, while many leafy greens or citrus fruits are high in vitamin C to support their connective tissues.
Give Them a Mouthguard
If your child participates in martial arts, team sports, or other high-contact physical activities, they may be more prone to sustaining injuries that can damage, destabilize, or dislodge a tooth or cut the tender tissues inside their mouth.
This can fortunately be avoided by giving them a custom-fitted mouthguard that provides an added layer of cushioning over their teeth to prevent physical trauma.
Have Them Use Tools to Open Packages, Not Teeth
Have you ever noticed your child trying to open a new toy package or bottle cap with their teeth? Although enamel is the hardest substance produced by the human body, it’s not invincible, and using teeth as tools in this capacity might hurt them.
You can avoid an emergency dental appointment by encouraging them to ask a trusted adult for help or to find a more appropriate tool for the job, such as child-friendly scissors or a can opener.
Pediatric Dental Emergency FAQs
What If I Can’t Afford Emergency Dentistry?
Parents are sometimes worried about the cost of their child’s care, especially when something unexpected happens. The good news is that our team at Garland Pediatric Dentistry welcomes several popular dental insurance providers, including Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Careington. If you don’t have dental insurance, then ask us about CareCredit! With this trusted third-party financier, you can break up the cost of your child’s treatment plan into smaller, more budget-friendly installments over the course of several months.
What if My Child’s Toothache Suddenly Disappears?
If your child’s toothache disappears, you might assume that the root of the problem has gone away with it. That’s usually not the case. In fact, the change in symptoms is likely due to something more dire: the nerve of the tooth dying. So, it’s very important that you schedule an appointment with one of our experienced, compassionate, and dedicated emergency dentists in Garland right away.
Should I Take My Child to the Emergency Room First for Dental Emergencies?
Hospitals typically don’t have dentists on staff. So, you should only call 911 or bring your child to the ER if they are experiencing potentially life-threatening symptoms, like uncontrollable bleeding or difficulty breathing. If that’s not the case, then your first call should be to our Garland dental office. That way, we can learn what’s going on, assess the urgency of the situation, and schedule an appointment accordingly.
What Can and Can’t My Child Eat with a Chipped or Cracked Tooth?
It’s very important that your child avoids hard foods that can cause the tooth to break further, like raw almonds, whole apples, and popcorn. They should also steer clear of taffy, caramel-filled candies, and other sticky sweets that can get inside the cracks. Instead, offer them extremely soft foods (i.e., plain yogurt, applesauce, cottage cheese) and do your best to make sure that they avoid chewing on that side of their mouth.
Should You Put a Knocked-Out Tooth in Water?
You can use water to gently remove dirt and other debris from your child’s tooth. You should not, however, use it to try to preserve the root surface cells. Instead, you should place the tooth back in its socket or, if that would require force, put it in a clean container filled with milk or saline solution.
Is It Safe to Use A Toothpick?
There are a few reasons we don’t recommend using a toothpick, including that they can damage your child’s enamel, irritate their gums, and even splinter off inside their mouth. If they get something stuck between their teeth, the best thing to do is have them rinse with warm saltwater (this will help loosen the debris). Then, use a clean strand of floss to gently clean between their teeth.