Preventing a Dental Emergency

Not all dental emergencies can be prevented, but you can take steps to help protect your oral health. Some dental emergencies can be attributed to a lack of proper dental hygiene, poor nutrition, or even medications that can harm our smile. Our Mentor OH dentist has some simple tips that you can follow to help protect your smile and prevent dental emergencies. Keep reading to learn more about how you can keep your smile healthy and happy!

Take Good Care of Your Smile

You need to take excellent care of your smile to help prevent tooth decay and gum disease. Failure to properly care for your smile can leave you vulnerable to a wide range of oral health issues that can quickly escalate into dental emergencies if not addressed and corrected. Our Mentor OH dentist recommends brushing twice per day with fluoride toothpaste, flossing every night before bed, and rinsing with antibacterial mouthwash. This will ensure that your smile stays clean day-to-day.

Visit Our Office Every Six Months

You need to have your smile professionally cleaned every six months to remove built up tartar from your smile. Plaque hardens into tartar and can cause tooth decay and gum disease. Tartar can only be removed by a professional, so you need to get a thorough dental cleaning at least twice per year. This also gives our team a chance to thoroughly examine your teeth and gums, as well as take x-rays if need be. Some oral health issues are not recognizable to the untrained eye, so you need to make sure that our Mentor OH dentist is able to give you a proper check-up twice per year. Proper dental care is an essential step in preventing dental emergencies such as severe tooth decay, periodontitis, cavities, and dental abscesses.

Wear a Mouthguard

Mouthguards help protect your smile from accidental injury, such as in high-contact sports. If you have the option to wear facial protection like a mask or a mouthguard, you absolutely should. Facial injuries are so common, and they can pose a serious risk to your dental health. Not only can they be incredibly painful, they can also be very expensive to fix. Knocking out a tooth, chipping a tooth, or injuring your mouth can all be very stressful and painful to deal with. Avoid this injury by wearing protection during contact sports. 

Don't Treat Your Teeth as Tools

Some people think that their teeth are invincible and can open bottles, containers, and bags. This is not true, and it puts your dental health at risk! Using your teeth to open containers or chew on hard foods like popcorn kernels can lead you to break a tooth! Breaking a tooth is a serious dental emergency and requires immediate attention, so avoid that incident by not using your teeth as tools. If you need help opening something, simply ask someone to help you. Treat your teeth with respect or else you may regret it later.