Tips for Preventing Dental Emergencies

No surefire way exists to stop all emergencies from happening. From accidents to the unexpected, sometimes health concerns arise without warning. However, following key tips for preventing dental emergencies can reduce your chances of them happening to you.

If you do have a sudden oral health concern at hand, visit your local center for emergency dentistry in Norco with Absolute Family Dentistry.

Most dental emergencies happen for one of two reasons. The first is accidents. From motor vehicle collisions to sports injuries, your mouth can take a hit from all directions. The other leading cause is tooth decay. Let us start with the easier path.

Preventing Dental Emergencies Due to Decay

If there is a silver lining to tooth decay, it is that it does not happen overnight. Tooth decay builds up gradually. What might start as a bit of wear and tear on the tooth can gradually eat away at the entire structure.

At-Home Oral Care

You have heard it before, but we will say it again. Brush twice a day, and floss at least once. Tooth decay (and gum disease) happens when your teeth do not receive the cleaning they need.

Fortunately, high-quality at-home oral care tends to take no more than 10 minutes a day. Brushing takes 2 minutes in the morning and evening. And flossing takes about the same amount of time, depending on the type you use. If you use a water flosser on top of it, that rounds you out to a mere 10 minutes.

Ideally, brush or floss soon after a meal. The longer food sits on your teeth, the more time bacteria have to thrive.

Routine Dental Visits

The golden rule: visit your dentist at least every 6 months. Professional check-ups and cleaning can stop any decay before it progresses. Only rarely can decay develop into something emergency-worthy within this time frame.

Dental emergencies related to decay will typically involve an infection or abscess. Routine dental care helps keep your mouth in pristine shape so these issues never arise.

Preventing Dental Emergencies Due to Injuries

Your teeth are not the only part of you vulnerable to accidents. From your head to your toes, accidents can catch you anywhere. However, you can take a few steps to mitigate the risk.

Wear a Mouthguard

If you play contact sports or cannot stay away from the skatepark, you have a higher risk of a dental injury. We will not tell you to avoid these sports. But we do recommend taking precautions.

A sports guard is a special type of mouthguard designed for high-impact sports. It might not look terribly fashionable, but neither does a mouth with broken or missing teeth.

Avoid Using Your Teeth as Tools

Your teeth have precisely two functions: chewing and aiding in speech. As tempting as it can be to tear open a bag with your teeth, your teeth might not be happy about it. Many dental emergencies happen when patients use their teeth outside of their evolutionary function.

Boost Your Diet

Vitamin D and calcium, in particular, help strengthen your teeth. Stronger teeth mean greater dental resistance in physically intense situations. Likewise, vitamins A, B, and C all play a role in gum health.

Be Careful About What You Chew

Hard or sticky foods are the top culprits for food-related dental emergencies. Patients who have had fillings or other restorative work should take extra care. While fillings, crowns, and bonding are durable, they are not as strong as your natural tooth material. Many patients may bite into a tacky food item only to find a filling dislodged afterward.

Likewise, hard foods can chip or break weakened teeth or dental fillings. You do not have to cut these foods out of your diet entirely, though. Simply take extra care when chewing, and chew on the side of your mouth that has had less dental work.

Have Your Emergency Dentist Ready

Frankly, you could take every step imaginable, but life still can find a way to throw an emergency at you. That does not mean taking preventative steps is not worth your while. Each of these steps we outlined does decrease your risk of an emergency significantly.

However, the best support for prevention is preparation. We advise finding a reputable emergency dentist and saving their contact information.

Emergency Dental Care for All Ages

Absolute Family Dentistry serves patients around Norco as a leading emergency dentist for patients of all ages.