Night-Time Dental Emergencies in Families with Children
What makes a night-time decision easier is having thought it through before.
How to judge a child's toothache at night
Children describe pain less precisely than adults; a young child often cannot point to the tooth and may indicate an ear or a cheek instead. The parent's observation therefore matters: is the child avoiding that side when chewing, reacting to cold water, is the cheek asymmetrical, is there a fever?
Pain too severe to fall asleep with, pain that returns soon after medication, swelling in the cheek or under the eye, an accompanying fever, or a white-tipped bump on the gum are all findings that need to be examined the same night. Where there is an inflamed focus in the gum, spread can be faster in children than in adults, so a night visit should be arranged without delay.
Worth keeping ready in a home with children
- A small box with a lid, for a broken fragment
- Long-life milk or saline, for a knocked-out tooth
- Sterile gauze, for applying pressure to bleeding
- A soft cloth and ice, for a compress on the cheek
- A written list of the child's medicines and allergies
- The clinic's number saved in your phone
- A copy of any previous dental radiographs
Baby tooth or permanent tooth: why it matters
Whether the injured tooth is a baby tooth or a permanent one changes what is done. With a knocked-out permanent tooth the aim is to reposition it as quickly as possible, so it should be brought in milk or kept moist with saliva, never scrubbed at the root and never allowed to dry.
A knocked-out baby tooth is handled differently: replanting it is not advised, because it can damage the permanent tooth bud beneath. Even so, a baby tooth that is fractured, cracked, pushed inwards or displaced needs examination and a radiograph — that is the only way to see whether the permanent tooth underneath has been affected. Since the distinction is not always visible, it is best left to the clinic.
Before You Arrive from Yesilbayir: What to Do in the First Hour
What you can do before setting out from Yesilbayir does not replace treatment, but it keeps the situation from worsening and buys you time.
Before leaving Yesilbayir
What you should do before setting out from Yesilbayir depends on your complaint, and detailed first-aid steps for each are on the relevant page. On the way from Emergency in Yesilbayir, 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 Yesilbayir
Calling as you set out from Yesilbayir 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 Dosemealti, this arrangement noticeably shortens the wait.
What an Emergency Visit Covers for a Patient from Yesilbayir
For a patient attending as an emergency from Yesilbayir, the aim is to stop the pain and the infection; definitive work is left to a planned appointment.
Completed the same night for Yesilbayir
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 Yesilbayir as well.
Left to a later visit for Yesilbayir
For a patient from Emergency in Yesilbayir, 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 Yesilbayir, these are combined according to your journey and given to you in writing, so you do not have to travel from Dosemealti repeatedly.
