Just like any other part of your body an injury can happen to your tongue, teeth, cheek, gums or any other part of your mouth. Even though you can never completely prevent all oral emergencies and injuries from happening, Dr. Vinh T. Pham offers a few simple oral care items to keep stocked in your first aid kit to be better prepared.
— Waxed dental floss is a good tool if a foreign object gets stuck between your teeth or in your gums. It’s waxy coating makes it easier for the strand to slide between teeth to free the obstruction. You might want to also keep a floss threader in the kit, if you need to work around foreign object from a different angle.
— Should one of your teeth get knocked out by a hard fall or blow to the face, it might be possible for Dr. Vinh T. Pham to implant it back into the socket. However, to have any chance of success, the tooth needs to be whole and alive. You can try to keep the tooth alive by keeping it between your cheek and gums. There are tooth preservation products sold in stores that do an even better job of keeping a knocked out tooth alive. It’s basically a jar containing a nourishing gel, you simply put the tooth in the jar and seal it tightly.
— Stocking salt packets and a plastic cup in your first aid kit will help you make a salt water rinse quickly. This can help clear blood and debris from your mouth and help soothe injured tissues. A topical oral analgesic can also be rubbed onto your gums to partially numb the area for a short time.
If you would like additional tips on how to prevent or be better prepared to treat oral emergencies, you can always call Dr. Vinh T. Pham and our Kirkwood Dental team in Campbell, California, today at 408-378-8500 to schedule a consultation.