An Emergency Dentist Can Help With Your Broken Jaw

A broken jaw means a trip the emergency dentist. Like with many fractures, a broken jaw can occur for a number or reasons and is extremely painful. It will also require emergency medical assistance that can be offered by a dentist or at a hospital emergency room. Jawbone fractures, or a broken jaw is the third most common type of fracture after fractures of the nose and the cheekbone. Identifying a broken jaw and realizing that you need to be seen by a dentist, is relatively easy. 

You need to visit our office if you have any of the following symptoms:

•    Severe pain in the joint along your jawbone
•    Inability to open your mouth widely
•    Bruising, swelling, and tenderness along the jaw and under your ear
•    Your jaw being improperly aligned and feeling off
•    Missing teeth or loosened teeth
•    Bleeding from the area of the incident

There are quite a number of ways that a person’s jaw can get fractured. Called the mandible, the jaw bone is often likely to fracture in more than one place. The direct fracture occurs where the jaw made contact with whatever broke it, and a second fracture occurs somewhere else along the jaw. The second fracture will often be close to the joint at the end of the jawbone. There are several ways you can break your jaw:

•    Falling due to an accident. This occurs more commonly with children and also in adults, especially older adults, who can faint.
•    Slamming into the dashboard of a vehicle due to a collision. This can occur even when the airbag deploys if the collision is severe.
•    Falling off a moving vehicle or ride. Any collision to the jaw from a moving vehicle can result in a trip to the emergency dentist with a broken jaw.
•    Contact sports are also responsible for many jaw breaks. An impact collision during the sport or a fall can result in a broken mandible.
•    Getting hit or punched in the jaw can also result in a break.
Once you realize that you may have a broken jaw, as a result of any one of these occurrences, you should contact an emergency dentist immediately. Prolonged time between the incident and getting treatment can further damage the jaw or cause unnecessary complications in the treatment options.
While you are waiting to be seen by an emergency dentist, there are a few steps you should take.
•    Apply a cold compress to the jaw using ice or frozen vegetables. This will help reduce the swelling and will also help with localized pain. Use light pressure so as to avoid more pain and damage to the bone.
•    Create a support to stabilize the jaw. You can easily do this by using a towel. Wrap the towel under the jaw and fasten it, by tying, on your head. This will hold the jawbone in place while waiting for treatment.
•    You can take an over the counter pain medication, just be sure to note what time you take it and the dosage so that you can give that information to us, in our emergency dentist office. 

If you have any type of dental emergency, we can help.  Call to schedule an appointment.

Learn About the Differences Between Dental Teeth Whitening and Whats in the Store

With so many options in teeth whitening solutions is can often be hard to decide what the best treatment method is. Dentists have been working with patients for years in an effort to get whiter, and more importantly, healthier teeth so we know the best way to get the brighter smile you have been looking for. With smiles being important for confidence, it is important that you get the teeth whitening solution that is best suited for you and will quickly give you that smile you have always wanted. While some store bought solutions can have the same effect, there are distinct differences that you should be aware of when deciding how to proceed with teeth whitening. 

Are the chemicals used in teeth whitening the same over the counter as at the dentist’s office?

The main ingredient in teeth whitening is hydrogen peroxide, which serves to remove stains and whiten teeth. In some store bought solutions, there is carbamide peroxide, which consists largely of hydrogen peroxide. The solution that we use at the dentist’s office also has hydrogen peroxide. That is where the similarities end. The chemical make-up of the solution that one can purchase from the store consists of around 3% hydrogen peroxide. This means that you will get whiter teeth, but the process will take longer. On the other hand, dentists have at our disposal gels that have a significantly higher percentage of hydrogen peroxide. Because of the high strength of the bleaching agent, only medical professionals can administer these gels. A dentist can use solutions which have between 15% and 43% hydrogen peroxide and will take care to protect your gums and soft tissue from coming in contact with them so as to ensure that you do not have irritation. 

Some store bought solutions use dental trays, isn’t this the same as the dentist office teeth whitening process?

Using trays is the most effective way of whitening your teeth. Fundamentally a tray is designed to fit over your teeth and stay in place.  This allows for you (or your dentist) to place the teeth whitening gel into the tray and bring it in direct contact with the teeth. As a result, both dentists and over the counter solutions use them. There are differences, however, between the two.

When we make you a tray at our dentist office, it is designed specifically for your mouth. To do this, we will take an impression of your teeth and then use that as a mold to create a custom tray which will fit exactly over your teeth. What this does is it reduces the ability of the gel to come in contact with your gums or soft tissue. It also ensures that the gel remains in contact with your teeth for the most amount of time, leading to better results. On the other hand, the product bought at the store provides you with a one size fits all tray. While this may fit your mouth perfectly, it could also leave gaps which could result in the gel leaking and coming in contact with your gums which can lead to irritation. 

Regardless of what solution you chose, it is always recommended that you meet with your dentist first to discuss your options. This allows you to make an informed decision and reach out to your doctor if some form of irritation should occur while using an over the counter teeth whitening solution.