You never think it’ll happen to you, a dental emergency that is. After all, you don’t play any contact sports, hockey, golf or anything else involving hard, flying objects. You always make sure you wear weather-appropriate shoes to avoid trips or falls when sleet hits the streets. You are the epitome of caution and prudence.

But unfortunately, accidents and injuries don’t play by your rules. As careful as you are, there is no accounting for the rest of the world. And then there are the more insidious causes of dental emergencies, the nagging toothache that suddenly becomes excruciating or that sneaky tooth infection that turns into an abscess.

So what should you do? First off, put the contact details of our emergency dentist in Bournemouth, Dr Hannah Neve at Queens Park Dental Team, in your phone.

Now that’s done, it’s time to swat up on a few of the basics of dealing with dental emergencies so that in the time between your dental emergency striking and you walking into our dental practice, you can find some relief.

A knocked out tooth

First find that tooth and pick it up from the crown, not the root. If you can pop it back into the socket, great. If not, keep it in a container of milk or your saliva. Get you and your tooth to our emergency dentist in Bournemouth within 2 hours and there is every chance that we can re-attach your tooth.

Please note that if a child has a milk tooth knocked out, do not attempt to place it back into the socket as this could damage the adult teeth underneath.

A severe toothache

Check that you haven’t got any food trapped between your teeth that is causing your toothache. Try flossing to dislodge anything trapped. If you are still in pain, apply a cold compress to the outside of your cheek to help ease it. Then call our emergency dentist in Bournemouth.

An abscess

Rinse out your mouth with a very mild salt solution; add 1 teaspoon of salt to half a litre of water. This will ease the pain and draw any pus to the surface of the abscess. Then see us as soon as possible.