Emergency Dentistry in Issaquah, WA

1. Rinse your mouth with warm water and gently floss to remove any trapped food.
2. Hold a cold compress against the outside of your cheek for 15 to 20 minutes at a time.
3. If you can safely take over-the-counter pain relievers, follow the label directions. Check with your doctor or pharmacist first if you have a medical condition, take blood thinners, or are pregnant.
4. Keep your head elevated when you lie down. It can ease throbbing.

Don’t place aspirin directly on your gum. It can burn the tissue. Don’t apply heat to a swollen area.

Pain that suddenly stops after days of severe toothache doesn’t always mean the problem is gone. It can mean the nerve has died while the infection remains, so still call us.

A knocked-out permanent tooth is one of the few dental situations where the first 30 minutes make a real difference. The American Association of Endodontists recommends seeing a dentist within 30 minutes, though teeth have been saved after an hour or more.

1. Find the tooth and pick it up by the crown, the white chewing surface. Never touch the root.
2. If it’s dirty, rinse it gently for a few seconds with milk or clean water. Don’t scrub it, and don’t remove tissue fragments that are still attached.
3. Try to place it back in the socket, facing the right way, and hold it there by biting gently on clean gauze. Never force it.
4. If you can’t reinsert it, keep it moist. Put it in a small container of milk, or use a tooth-preservation kit. Don’t store it in tap water, and don’t wrap it in tissue.
5. Call us immediately at (425) 391-4964 and bring the tooth with you.

Baby teeth are different. Dentists generally don’t reimplant baby teeth, because doing so can damage the adult tooth forming underneath. Call us anyway so we can check the area.

1. Rinse your mouth with warm water.
2. Save any pieces you find. Store them in milk or damp gauze, because a fragment can sometimes be bonded back on.
3. Apply a cold compress to your cheek to reduce swelling.
4. Cover a sharp or rough edge with dental wax or sugar-free gum so it doesn’t cut your tongue or cheek.
5. Avoid chewing on that side until we’ve seen it.

Cracks aren’t always painful, and a cracked tooth can get worse quickly. If you bit down on something and felt a sharp jolt or pain when you released your bite, call us.

1. If you still have the dental crown, rinse it and keep it somewhere safe.
2. A pharmacy sells temporary dental cement that can hold a crown in place until your visit. Never use super glue.
3. If a dental filling falls out, you can press a small piece of sugar-free gum into the hole for a short time.
4. Stick to soft foods and chew on the other side.

A dental abscess is a pocket of infection (you may hear people say “abscessed teeth”), often with throbbing pain, a bad taste, a pimple-like bump on the gum, or a swollen cheek or jaw.

1. Call us right away. An abscess needs treatment to remove the source of infection. Antibiotics alone don’t cure it.
2. Use a cold compress on the outside of your cheek, and avoid heat.
3. Don’t try to pop or drain it yourself.
4. Go to the ER if you have trouble breathing or swallowing, swelling that moves toward your eye, neck, or throat, or a fever with facial swelling.

1. Rinse gently with warm salt water (half a teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water).
2. Press clean gauze firmly on the bleeding area for 10 minutes.
3. Hold a cold compress against the outside of the injured area.
4. If the bleeding won’t stop or the cut is deep, go to the ER.

If you suspect that your jaw is broken, keep your jaw still, support it gently with your hand, and go to the ER. Call us once you’ve been seen so we can plan any follow-up dental care.