5 Common Summer Dental Emergencies and How to Avoid Them

When summer is mentioned, what comes into your mind is warm afternoons, infinite outdoor adventures, swimming, and fun vacations. With all these physical activities, there’s an increased risk for dental emergencies.

It’s vital to keep a note of tragedies in such situations. Precautionary measures need to be taken to avoid these hurts. We will discuss a number of dental emergencies you’re exposed to during your vacation and ways to prevent them. The most common dental emergencies are explained below.

Which dental emergencies are likely to occur during the summer?

• Lost Crown

Although dental crowns are fitted to last, it is possible to lose one during your vacation. It may be due to vigorous chewing activity when brushing your teeth or during flossing. Don’t panic if your dental crown is dislodged. It’s not lethal.

If you can locate your lost dental crown, it’s possible to reattach it using dental wax, toothpaste or denture adhesive.

Nevertheless, it will be temporarily attached, so you need to see a dentist later on. The longer you wait, the more quickly the dentine underneath changes shape so the crown might no longer fit.

• Lost Filling

Just like dental crowns, a filling can be lost due to teeth grinding, pressure, or heavy chewing. If you have a tooth filling, it is advisable to care for it by avoiding such activities during your summer vacation.

For kids who love candy and sweet foods, we recommend a break from them during summer. They are likely to cause dental decay, which increases the chances of losing a tooth filling.

• Broken or Chipped Teeth

A number of physical activities during your summer holiday can cause tooth fractures. Your child might be trying to flip-dive into a pool off the board and end up injuring their teeth.

To minimize the pain, you can place an ice pack against the cheek or lip closest to the damaged tooth. You can also purchase painkillers if the pain persists. For bleeding cases, press a paper towel against the injury. You can also use gauze or a wet tea bag instead. This should stop the bleeding in 10 minutes.

• Bashed out tooth

It is normal to have cases of a lost tooth during intense contact activities such as rock climbing, soccer, football, and other extreme summer activities. Once it happens, immediately locate the lost tooth, pick it by the crown and rinse with warm water. If it’s a permanent tooth, try putting it back in the socket immediately.

If it’s possible, we advise setting it in saline or cool water. A clean glass of milk can also do. Get to a dentist as soon as possible to increase the chances of saving the tooth.

• Damaged Brackets, Braces or Wires

For a broken brace or bracket, carefully remove it from the mouth and keep it in a safe place. Visit a dentist on your next appointment for fixing.

If the bracket is loose, you can use orthodontic wax to preserve it until you can see a dentist.

Orthodontic wax can also be used to fix a protruding wire that’s irritating your gums or cheek.

Preventing Dental Emergencies

• Have a dental emergency gear

Prepare an oral emergency kit for your summer vacation with the following items.

• Clean handkerchiefs or towels
• Saline water solution
• Sizeable sealable container
• A gauze
• Your dentist’s contact details

• Impose pool safety

Children can hurt on a concrete floor and damage their front teeth. Diving in shallow depths and playing on slippery floors can also cause serious accidents

To prevent these, you need to give your children guidelines and rules to follow while swimming to preserve their dental health.

• Encourage sports safety

Never let your mouth guard down if you are playing contact sports during your summer holiday. Games such as soccer or football are likely to cause dental emergencies like fractured teeth and cut lips.

• Healthy summer snacks

It is essential to keep a healthy oral diet during the summer. It can be achieved by avoiding very sugary foods that increase the chances of tooth decay. Engage more in fresh vegetables, milk, cheese, yogurts, and other nutritional foods that kids can easily pick on the go.

• Schedule check-ups

Visiting a dentist before your summer breakout will have all the critical dental conditions put in check. This will help prevent complications such as lost crowns, lost fillings, or damaged braces that may arise during a summer day.