What Can Be Done at Home Until You Arrive
A few correct measures ease the pain; the wrong ones make things worse.
What you can do in the meantime
- Keep your head raised; lying flat increases the pain
- Apply a cold compress to the cheek from outside if swollen
- Rinse gently with warm salt water; do not rinse forcefully
- Do not chew on that side; avoid very hot and very cold
- If food is impacted, clean gently with dental floss
- Keep the broken fragment and any crown that has come off
- Take a painkiller you have used safely before, at its stated dose
Heat or cold?
Where there is swelling the application must be cold. Cold reduces blood flow to the area, limits the oedema and eases the pain; apply it outside the cheek through a thin cloth, in intervals, never ice directly on the skin.
Heat does the opposite over an inflamed area: it increases blood flow and helps the infection spread into surrounding tissue. Hot towels, hot water bottles, hot rinses and very hot drinks are therefore avoided while there is swelling. A gentle warm salt-water rinse is a different matter and helps keep the area clean.
Common home remedies that do harm
The commonest mistake is crushing a painkiller onto the tooth or gum. The drug is not absorbed that way; its acidity burns the mucosa, leaving a white ulcer and tissue damage that can persist. Applying cologne, alcohol or vinegar irritates the tissue in the same way.
The second is trying to open a swelling with a needle or other instrument, which can push the infection into deeper tissue. Wobbling a loose tooth with your fingers, trying to glue a fragment back, and taking leftover antibiotics on your own decision are all harmful. Leave the area alone and come to the clinic.
Before You Arrive from Yeni: What to Do in the First Hour
What you can do before setting out from Yeni does not replace treatment, but it keeps the situation from worsening and buys you time.
Before leaving Yeni
What you should do before setting out from Yeni depends on your complaint, and detailed first-aid steps for each are on the relevant page. On the way from Emergency in Yeni, 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 Yeni
Calling as you set out from Yeni does two things: you receive first-aid guidance suited to your situation, and the radiograph and surgery are prepared while you travel. For patients coming from across Elmali, this arrangement noticeably shortens the wait.
What an Emergency Visit Covers for a Patient from Yeni
For a patient attending as an emergency from Yeni, the aim is to stop the pain and the infection; definitive work is left to a planned appointment.
Completed the same night for Yeni
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 Yeni as well.
Left to a later visit for Yeni
For a patient from Emergency in Yeni, 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 Yeni, these are combined according to your journey and given to you in writing, so you do not have to travel from Elmali repeatedly.
