Caring for your teeth and other oral organs is necessary to live a healthy dental life. Regular brushing and flossing, regular dental checkups, cleanings, and examinations ensure that your teeth are in good condition. That is necessary to ensure that the teeth can always perform their functions efficiently. Despite the proper care and various preventive measures taken, you might find yourself in precarious dental situations in which you require urgent dental care. Situations like this are known as dental emergencies.

A dental emergency is an unexpected and sudden dental problem that requires swift dental action to stop bleeding, alleviate pain, and possibly save your teeth. Emergencies can cause bleeding and severe pain, so you need to get emergency dental care near you. Dr. Terrie Cribs is always ready to deal with your dental emergencies, stop your bleeding, and relieve you of pains.

Types Of Dental Emergencies

Because of the urgent attention and treatment that dental emergencies require, not all dental problems are considered emergencies. At TLC Dental Care, only sudden dental issues which cause a lot of bleeding, severe pain, and are life-threatening are considered dental emergencies. These include:

• Unexplained toothache: Toothaches usually come with severe pain, which is never a good sign. While a toothache might not be much to worry about, it might indicate a worse dental infection or disease like tooth decay. Therefore, a toothache is an excellent reason to see an emergency dentist in Knoxville, TN.
• Knocked-out tooth: A considerable amount of force is needed to knock a tooth out of its socket. That might cause intense bleeding and severe pain. Therefore, emergency dental services are necessary for knocked-out teeth.
• Broken crowns: A dental crown is a tooth-shaped cap designed to cover your weak or damaged teeth for protection and restoration. If your crown breaks, it makes your teeth vulnerable and might render them useless in carrying out their functions, hence the need for urgent dental attention.
• Abscessed teeth: This occurs when a painful pocket of pus forms around the gums due to infection. While this causes severe pain, if not attended to immediately, there is the likelihood of spreading the disease throughout your body.
• Chipped, broken, or fractured teeth: This might occur due to traumatic damage to the teeth during sports or other activities. To save the teeth and ease pain, you need to see an emergency dentist.
• Soft tissue injury: Injury to the inner cheeks, tongue, and other mouth’s soft tissues might cause bleeding and lead to pain and discomfort every time you eat or speak. Therefore, you need emergency dental services.
• Swollen or bleeding gums: The gums hold the teeth firm. It could affect the teeth if anything were to happen to them. Swollen or bleeding gums are signs of gum diseases you should address immediately.

How To Handle A Dental Emergency

It is essential to stay calm during a dental emergency to prevent complications. The following are first aid measures you can apply if you are facing a dental crisis to stop bleeding and for temporary relief:

• If you have a knocked-out tooth, pick the tooth up and rinse it carefully without touching or scrubbing the tooth root. After rinsing, try to insert the tooth back into its socket or place it in a glass of milk and see an emergency dentist.
• If you have a dental abscess, try to draw out the pus by rinsing your mouth with a solution of salt and warm water to ease the pain. See a dentist as soon as possible.
• If you have significant cuts or bites and other soft tissue injuries, clean the affected area gently with water. Try to stop the bleeding with a cold compress and see a dentist.
• Try to dislodge food particles between your teeth when facing a severe toothache by flossing gently. Rinse your mouth with warm water, and see a dentist immediately.

Good oral hygiene and habits backed with regular dental cleanings and exams are an excellent strategy for excellent oral health. However, it’s not a guarantee for perfect oral health. Sometimes you might face a severe dental problem that may require immediate attention.

When this happens, having an emergency dentist ensures that you find the necessary help when you need it the most. Unlike your general dentist, an emergency dentist operates 24/7, meaning that you can reach out to them at any time of the day or week.

Knowing what problems need emergency attention could be the difference between saving a tooth and losing it. For instance, you might not need urgent dental care if you have a mild toothache. While it’s necessary to consult a dental professional as soon as possible, the issue can wait.

A dental emergency is an oral emergency that involves severe discomfort or life-threatening symptoms such as severe bleeding and facial trauma. If you have such symptoms, you need urgent attention – you can’t waste any minute thinking whether you need help. Contact your emergency dentist or seek urgent dental care near you immediately.

Types of Dental Emergencies

Below are three types of dental emergencies to watch out for:

• Dental trauma

Dental trauma refers to any dental trauma or injury to the teeth, soft tissues, and periodontium. Dental trauma is more common in car and sports accidents. Possible injuries in dental trauma include:

• Broken, chipped, or fractured teeth
• Concussion
• Soft tissue injuries to the lip, cheek, and tongue
• Avulsion – when a tooth falls out of the socket
• Subluxation – tooth mobility due to injuries to the supporting structures of the tooth
• Intrusion – tooth pushed into the bone
• Lateral luxation – a tooth is displaced, and bone fractured

Urgent care is not an option but a necessity for these problems.

• Damaged fillings and restorations

Like your natural teeth, your dental work, such as braces, fillings, bridges, and crowns, is susceptible to damage. The restoration can break, fall out, chip, or get lost, especially when excessive pressure is applied. A damaged or lost restoration can’t protect you adequately, making you vulnerable to infections and other complications. Similarly, it can cause harm to the surrounding structures such as teeth, gums, and tongue. In worse cases, you can swallow them. You need to get them restored, repaired, or replaced immediately for these reasons.

• Tooth extraction

In some cases, tooth extraction may require urgent attention. For instance, if your tooth has fallen out or it’s very loose, it’s essential to see a dentist, possibly within 30 minutes. If saving the tooth isn’t possible, extraction is crucial. Visit an emergency dentist if you have a severely damaged tooth.

Reasons for Needing an Emergency Dental Visit

• Severe Toothache

Severe toothache is never a good sign. It could indicate several conditions, such as an infected tooth. While you can manage mild cases of tooth decay without emergency care, severe symptoms such as pain require emergency care. When a tooth’s pulp is infected, the nerve endings are exposed, which can cause severe discomfort.

• Severe bleeding

While it’s normal to experience bleeding after tooth extraction or other dental work, urgent dental care is essential if the bleeding persists or worsens. As you wait to see the dentist, bite on a gauze to control the bleeding. Additionally, avoid spitting, smoking, drinking, eating, or sucking.

• Swelling or sore gums

Sore or swelling gums is usually an indication of tooth infection or gum disease. The dentist will examine the gums and teeth to determine the cause of the swelling and provide the necessary treatment. If not addressed timely, tooth infection or gum disease may lead to tooth loss, among other complications.

• Abscess

If you have a painful and swollen pimple on your gums, especially near a tooth’s root, it’s probably an abscess. If not eliminated, the infection can spread to surrounding gum tissue and teeth, leading to worse oral health problems. Visit an emergency dental clinic near you or contact your emergency dentist. Rinse your mouth with mild water or apply an ice pack on the affected area for temporary relief.

Schedule an Appointment Today

Are you looking for emergency dentistry in Knoxville, TN? Contact TLC Dental Care for more information.

Fluoride occurs naturally as a mineral to help build strong teeth and prevent cavities. For over seven decades, tap water in America contains trace amounts of fluoride as a measure against tooth decay. Approximately 25 percent of tooth decay is reduced by fluoridated water, states the CDC.

Fluoride treatment near you may offer significant benefits to protect your teeth. The treatments are beneficial to everyone at risk of tooth decay but may not be suitable for some. This article looks at the benefits and treatment recommendations of fluoride for your reference.

What Are Fluoride Treatments?

Fluoride treatments are generally professional treatments provided by the dental clinic in Knoxville. Dentists at the clinic apply a higher concentration of fluoride to your teeth to improve their health and reduce the risk of cavities. In-office fluoride treatments are available from dentists in the form of a solution, foam, varnish, or gel.

You can also find highly concentrated fluoride treatments for use at home but must refrain from doing so unless a dentist recommends it.

The fluoride used by dentists during in-office treatments is the same as the fluoride in toothpaste. However, the treatments contain higher concentrations of immediate benefits.

Benefits of in Office Fluoride Treatments

Your teeth benefit in many ways when you receive in-office fluoride treatments. They are:

• Fluoride helps the body to make better use of minerals like calcium and phosphate. In addition, the weakened tooth enamel is repaired when the teeth reabsorb these minerals.
• Fluoride combines into the tooth structure during the developmental stages to strengthen the enamel of the teeth, making them less vulnerable to microorganisms and cavities for life.
• Fluoride can slow or even reverse the development of cavities by harming the microorganisms that cause them.

When the above benefits are combined to they help to:

• Reduce or slow the growth and risk of cavities.
• Delay the requirement for expensive dental work.
• Prolong the life of baby teeth.
• Reduce the time and money you have to spend at a dentist’s office.

When you prevent cavities and slow down the growth of bacteria by receiving fluoride treatment from the dentist in Knoxville, you also avoid the occurrence of periodontitis, premature loss of teeth, and reduce tooth pain.

Recommendations for Fluoride Treatments

Everyone is recommended exposure to small amounts of fluoride every day to reduce the risk of dental cavities, according to the CDC and the ADA. People in America can use tap water for drinking and brushing their teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste. Children and adults at a higher risk of cavities can benefit from fluoride treatments from a dentist.

All children are recommended fluoride treatments by the American Academy of pediatrics as soon as their teeth begin to emerge to prevent tooth decay, discomfort, and dental infections needing treatments from the emergency dentist in Knoxville. In addition, dentists must assess the child’s risk of cavities and repeat in-office fluoride treatments every 3 to 6 months.

Fluoride treatment recommendations for adults vary because various studies have investigated different concentrations, treatment frequencies, and doses. If you are at a moderate to high risk of developing tooth decay, you receive help from fluoride treatments. Experts recommend people at increased risk of developing cavities receive in-office professional fluoride treatments twice a year from Dr. Terrie Cribbs.

You can discuss the risks and benefits of fluoride treatment with the dentist because it is essential to consider all sources of fluoride you get, including toothpaste and mouthwash. You receive more significant benefits of regular fluoride treatments if you live in an area where fluoridated water is unavailable.

If you are advised fluoride treatments as a restorative measure against tooth decay and cavities, it helps to understand that fluoride strengthens your tooth enamel, making it challenging for the bacteria in your mouth to penetrate it. Fluoride treatments are entirely safe for everyone. Even if you experience any side effects, there is no reason for you to remain concerned about them. Overdosing on large quantities of fluoride is the only reason why you may develop any side effects. However, if you already have cavities or are at risk of tooth decay, you should discuss your concerns with a dentist you trust before undergoing fluoride treatments.

Fearing fluoride treatments is not likely to help you, especially if you want to protect your teeth from tooth decay and cavities. It helps if you have an additional barrier of protection for your teeth to prevent cavities altogether instead of suffering the consequences of having them.

Why Your Next Filling Choice Could Save You Thousands

Most adults will face cavity treatment at some point, and the filling material you choose today directly impacts your wallet for decades.

There is hope! Advanced dental filling options now exist that can protect your smile while saving you significant money over time.

The right filling choice may last over 20 years compared to budget options that typically need replacement every 5-10 years, potentially saving you $500-1000 in future dental work.

Let’s explore how you can benefit from choosing the optimal filling for your specific needs and budget.

K Takeaways

• One filling type can actually break your teeth over time
• The “best” filling according to dentists might surprise you
• Why the cheapest option could cost you more in the long run
• The filling that lasts 5 years vs the one that lasts 20+
• Which material works best depends on where the cavity is

It’s never a great feeling when the dentist tells you that you have a cavity, especially when you’ve been diligently brushing and flossing to keep your teeth healthy. The next step after a cavity is discovered is typically a dental filling. Fillings come in several different materials that have their own advantages and disadvantages, so let’s take a look!

1. The Classic: Amalgam Fillings

Amalgam fillings are what you might think of as “silver” dental fillings, though they’re actually composed of a mixture of tin, copper, silver, and mercury.  The reason dentists have been using them for so long is that they are strong and long-lasting, and they are also the least expensive option. However, they expand and contract differently from the tooth so they break teeth over time and they corrode and stain teeth grey.  Even if they don’t stain the teeth, they’re very noticeable and tend to darken over time, so if you want something that blends in, amalgam fillings probably aren’t the ones you want.

2. Low Profile: Composite Fillings

Composite dental fillings are made of acrylic resin and powdered glass. Unlike amalgam fillings, they can be colored to match your teeth, which is part of what makes them so popular. They do wear out faster, though, and aren’t always the best choice for teeth that take the greatest chewing pressure.

3. Putting On The Ritz: Gold Fillings

Gold fillings aren’t made of pure gold, just like amalgam fillings aren’t made of pure silver, but they are some of the most durable fillings available, capable of lasting more than two decades. They can’t corrode like amalgam fillings, they’re very strong and they are kind to your gums.   Most dentists think this is the best type of filling to place.  Unfortunately, they are expensive and take 2 appointments to complete.  Finally, they are noticeable so we don’t place them where they can be seen.

4. Strong and Realistic: Porcelain Fillings

Porcelain fillings are another tooth-colored option, and with today’s ceramics they’re strong! From a function standpoint these fillings are the 2nd best way to replace your natural tooth structure and I don’t hesitate to recommend them.  However, for patients who like best option dentistry, these are usually their top choice because they are long lasting, strong, non-staining and tooth-colored.  The drawbacks of porcelain fillings are that they are require 2 appointments, and they are also as expensive as gold.

5. Down To The Roots: Glass Ionomer Fillings

The final type of filling is resin or glass ionomer fillings. These are made of acrylic and fluoroaluminosilicate, a component of glass. They are typically used as cement for inlay fillings, and for fillings when the decay extends into the root of the tooth. They are also used on baby teeth. Weaker than composite resin, glass ionomer fillings might only last around five years, and they don’t match the color of teeth as closely.

No matter what filling you get, your tooth will still need plenty of love and care!

Bring Your Questions To The Experts!

Still have questions about the different types of fillings? Just ask us! You should also come see us if you’ve noticed any problems with existing fillings, such as damage or a separation between the filling and the tooth. A loose or damaged filling could lead to worse complications for the tooth, so don’t wait to schedule your appointment!

Some people believe that people should only get screened every 3-4 years. Others believe that people should get screened yearly. But why do we need to screen for oral cancer?
First, we need to understand the difference between screening and diagnostic tools. Screenings look for signs of cancer or pre-cancerous conditions, while diagnostic tools look for cancer itself.
We recommend screenings if you have a higher risk of developing the disease, such as those who smoke or drink lots of alcohol, because screenings can find pre-cancerous conditions before they become life-threatening cancers.
Screenings cannot detect every case and should not be a substitute for diagnostic tests like biopsies and x-rays.

What is Oral Cancer?

Oral cancer is the term used to describe a malignant change in cells of the mouth. It affects the lip, tongue, cheeks, gums, hard and soft palate, and inside of the throat.

It is important to note that different cancers affect your mouth, throat, and neck. The most common types include squamous cell carcinoma, salivary gland cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, and leukoplakia.

How Are Oral Cancer Screening Done?

Oral cancer is the ninth most common cancer globally and the fifth most prevalent cancer in the United States. It causes about 54,000 cases annually. The surging number of oral cancer is often due to the late detection of cancer. That is why the Oral Cancer Foundation recommends getting oral cancer screening near you annually, especially if at risk of cancer.

Oral cancer screening can be done on an as-needed basis or as a regular part of medical care. Some dentists and doctors may recommend annual exams, but other professionals recommend screenings every two years.

The tests for oral cancer include visual inspection of the mouth, neck, and throat, a physical examination, or a thin-cut biopsy (removal of a small sample of suspicious tissue). Dr. Terrie Cribbs will use a mirror and light to look at your tongue, gums, throat, neck, and back of your mouth. Special tools can also look for signs on hard-to-reach areas.

How Often Should You Get Oral Cancer Screening?

A general guideline is that everyone should get checked for oral cancer at least once a year. However, this may vary depending on the individual because everyone is different. For instance, instead of getting screened every year, some people might need to come in every six months. It is important to consult your dentist on how often you need to get screened for oral cancer.

What Are the Benefits of Oral Cancer Screening?

Oral cancer screenings are a way to detect oral cancer in its early stage before it becomes severe and spreads. It is crucial to go for this screening because the signs and symptoms of oral cancer are not always easy to notice.
The benefits of an oral cancer screening include:

• Early detection and diagnosis
• Prevention of oral cancers from spreading
• Better chances of survival

What is Oral Cancer Screening Cost?

The cost of oral cancer screening can vary depending on several factors, such as insurance coverage or whether or not a person has a dental plan.
The cost of oral cancer screening can also vary depending on the type and stage of cancer. Costs can include treatment, co-payments, and follow-up visits or care.

What Happens After Oral Cancer Screening?

The most common symptom of this disease is a lump or sore that does not heal after two weeks, but there are other symptoms such as bleeding from the mouth or pain in your neck or jaw. If you have any of these symptoms, visit an emergency dentist in Knoxville immediately and get examined.

If you have been diagnosed with oral cancer, several treatments are available, such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy. More importantly, visit your doctor regularly for checkups so they can monitor your condition and detect any changes early.

Schedule an Appointment

Visit TLC Dental Care for more information about oral cancer screening.