Watching your child experience pain is an excruciating part of being a parent. One of the worst – and unfortunately one of the most common – types of pain is tooth pain. Children are active and growing which means that there will likely be situations where they injure their teeth or develop a toothache. If you find yourself in a situation where your child has a dental injury or pain, your primary thought is figuring out how to stop that pain. Many parents are confused about what criteria to use to determine if a situation constitutes a dental emergency. Keep reading to learn about four signs that can indicate a dental emergency and should prompt you into action.

Severe pain

Severe dental pain can be a dental emergency. Children can be dramatic and some cry at the drop of the hat. But parents can tell when their children are experiencing real pain as opposed to simply being dramatic. If your child is experiencing dental pain that keeps him or her from sleeping, eating, or playing normally then you likely have a dental emergency on your hands. In this type of situation, it is important to get your child an appointment at the dentist as soon as possible. Be clear when you make the appointment that your child is in pain. At Dental Remedies, there is space built into the schedule to deal with dental emergencies that come up for established patients. If the pain is happening during off hours, call the emergency services line at your dentist.

Severe bleeding

The areas of your mouth including your lips, gums, and tongue can bleed a lot after an injury. Bleeding in an of itself is not always a sign of a dental emergency. However, if the bleeding is severe and continues to persist after efforts to make it stop, then your child may have a dental emergency. If you can get a good look at the injury it can help you determine if you need to reach out to your dentist or your pediatrician. A laceration in the tongue, lips, or inner cheek may require the help of a doctor. Bleeding that is related to a tooth being injured will require a dentist.

Permanent tooth knocked loose

If your child already has some permanent teeth and one of them becomes injured, you need to get in to see the dentist as soon as possible. If a permanent tooth gets knocked loose it can lead to the death of the tooth and eventually cause it to fall out. Quick intervention from the dentist may be able to save the tooth from discoloration or death.

Tooth completely knocked out

If your child has a tooth knocked out from an injury, it constitutes a dental emergency. When a permanent tooth gets knocked out it is essential that you seek professional dental care right away. You should also contact your dentist if a baby tooth that wasn’t already loose gets knocked out. In some situations, pieces of the tooth remain in the gums and can cause problems down the line.

At Dental Remedies, we understand that active kids sometimes have accidents and injure their teeth. That is why we offer emergency dental services for our young patients should a situation ever arise where your child needs dental intervention right away.