In the event of a dental emergency, please call Pioneer Valley Dental Arts at 413-567-4227. We are available to assist our current patients* 7 days a week.
*Our emergency dentistry services are for current patients ONLY.
We help patients with dental injuries, tooth loss, severe infections, and broken or lost restorations, which require prompt emergency care. If you have physical injuries in addition to dental injuries or pain, visit an emergency room first. We can provide emergency dental care for dental pain and other urgent issues in our Longmeadow, MA, dental office after you receive the proper medical care.
Tips for Common Dental Emergencies
Follow these tips at home to prevent as much pain or damage as possible before you visit our dentists:
Tooth Loss
If you have just lost a permanent tooth, try to locate it and rinse it in water. Do not touch the tooth roots. You can place the tooth back in its socket and gently bite it down. If this is not possible, place the tooth between your teeth and gums to keep the tooth moist for transport to our office. We can provide a dental implant if we cannot reattach the tooth. Dental implants are titanium posts that replace teeth at the root. Implants can secure tooth-like dental crowns to restore the appearance and function of a missing tooth.
Tooth Pain
There are many causes of tooth pain, from dental injuries to abscesses. Dental injuries can expose the nerves within the tooth and cause sensitivity or pain. A tooth abscess is a pocket of pus that can develop at the tip of the tooth root or in the gum tissue. To treat tooth pain at home, you can rinse your mouth with warm water and take aspirin. Do not place aspirin on your tooth or gum tissue.
Call our office, and we can find the cause of your pain. If you have pain behind your molars, you most likely have impacted wisdom teeth. Pain and swelling around the wisdom teeth will constitute an extraction. If you have an infection that reaches the pulp or blood vessels inside the tooth, we will need to perform a root canal. We may need to extract the tooth if it is severely damaged or decayed.
Broken or Lost Restoration
If you have lost or broken your temporary dental restoration, you can be at risk of increased damage to your teeth and gums. Do not place the restoration back in your mouth because you can injure your gum tissue or remaining teeth. Instead, contact our office, and we will perform an examination. We can create a new restoration for you.
Routine dental cleanings, orthodontics, and asymptomatic cavities are NOT dental emergencies. However, you can contact our office to schedule an appointment for these services.
How to Avoid Dental Emergencies
There are multiple ways to prevent the need for emergency dental care:
- Never Use Your Teeth to Open Things: Using your teeth to try to open packages creates wear and strain on your enamel. You can also crack or chip your teeth on hard objects.
- Avoid Chewing Ice: In addition to popcorn kernels or hard candy, you should not chew on ice. As with other hard objects, you can break or chip your teeth.
- Schedule Routine Dental Care: It’s always a good idea to schedule regular dental appointments. At routine appointments, we provide dental cleanings and examinations. We also take dental x-rays to discover dental problems we cannot see with a visual exam.