What to Do at Home Before You Reach the Clinic
The right first aid recovers ground that would otherwise be lost overnight.
The first minutes with bleeding, swelling and pain
For bleeding inside the mouth, apply steady pressure to the bleeding area with clean gauze or a folded clean cloth. Keep the pressure on without interruption for 15-20 minutes; checking every few minutes disturbs the forming clot and prolongs the bleeding. Avoid spitting, rinsing and hot drinks meanwhile.
If there is swelling, apply cold to the outside of the cheek — never ice directly on the skin, but wrapped in a cloth for fifteen minutes at a time. Heat, hot rinses and massaging the swollen area are common and harmful mistakes, as they help infection spread. A painkiller you already use may be taken, but never place a tablet or aspirin against the gum: it burns the tissue.
What to do for each situation before setting out
- Knocked-out tooth: hold the crown, do not touch the root
- Do not scrub it; rinse gently with milk or saline if dirty
- Carry it in milk or inside the patient's cheek
- Find the broken fragment and bring it, keep it moist
- Do not cut a protruding wire; cover the end with wax
- Leave a loosened tooth alone and switch to soft food
- Do not drive in severe pain — have someone with you
With an avulsed tooth, time is the critical factor
In a fully avulsed permanent tooth, the viability of the periodontal ligament cells on the root surface decides whether it can be replanted. Those cells die quickly once dry, so the tooth must not be allowed to dry and you should come without delay. Scrubbing the root or leaving it long in tap water does the same damage.
Milk is the best transport medium; saline or the patient's own saliva will serve. An avulsed baby tooth is not replanted, as this can harm the developing permanent tooth beneath, but it still needs assessing. In either case call as you set out so preparation is done while you travel.
Before You Arrive from Kutukcu: What to Do in the First Hour
What you can do before setting out from Kutukcu does not replace treatment, but it keeps the situation from worsening and buys you time.
Before leaving Kutukcu
What you should do before setting out from Kutukcu depends on your complaint, and detailed first-aid steps for each are on the relevant page. On the way from Emergency in Kutukcu, using the wrong measure can make things worse, so it matters which page you read — applying heat to swelling spreads the infection, and placing a painkiller tablet on the tooth burns the gum.
- Toothache
- Dental abscess and facial swelling
- A broken or cracked tooth
- A knocked-out tooth
- Bleeding after an extraction
What calling achieves for Kutukcu
Calling as you set out from Kutukcu does two things: you receive first-aid guidance suited to your situation, and the radiograph and surgery are prepared while you travel. For Emergency in Kutukcu: for patients coming from across Kepez, this arrangement noticeably shortens the wait.
What an Emergency Visit Covers for a Patient from Kutukcu
For a patient attending as an emergency from Kutukcu, the aim is to stop the pain and the infection; definitive work is left to a planned appointment.
Completed the same night for Kutukcu
Examination and a radiograph, opening the canal to release pressure, draining an abscess, stopping bleeding, temporarily sealing a broken tooth, splinting a loose tooth and adjusting a poking orthodontic wire are all completed the same night for a patient from Kutukcu as well.
Left to a later visit for Kutukcu
For a patient from Emergency in Kutukcu, completing the root filling, making a crown or onlay, the permanent restoration and the implant and prosthetic stages are done at planned appointments. If you are coming from Kutukcu, these are combined according to your journey and given to you in writing, so you do not have to travel from Kepez repeatedly.
