Emergency Pediatric Dentist in Clear Lake

What to Do in the First Few Minutes

Knocked-out permanent tooth — minutes matter. Find the tooth and pick it up by the white crown, not the root. If it's dirty, rinse it briefly in milk or clean water — no scrubbing, no wiping. If your child can manage it, gently seat it back into the socket and have them bite on clean cloth to hold it; if not, drop it in a cup of cold milk. Then call us immediately — reimplantation is genuinely time-sensitive.
Knocked-out baby tooth — do NOT put it back in. Reinserting a baby tooth can damage the permanent tooth developing underneath. Comfort your child, control any bleeding with gentle pressure from clean gauze or cloth, keep the tooth to show us, and call.
Chipped or broken tooth. Rinse the mouth with warm water, save any pieces in milk or water, and use a cold compress on the outside of the cheek for swelling. Sharp edge bothering the tongue? A bit of sugar-free gum over it works in a pinch. Call us — how fast we need to see it depends on the break.
Severe toothache. Rinse with warm water and gently floss beside the sore tooth — trapped food is a surprisingly common villain. Cold compress outside the cheek, age-appropriate pain relief per the package directions, and never place aspirin against the gums. Then call.
Bitten lip or tongue that's bleeding. Steady, gentle pressure with clean gauze or cloth, and cold on the outside for swelling. Mouths bleed dramatically and usually settle — if it truly won't stop with steady pressure, that's ER territory.
Tooth pushed in, out of place, or suddenly loose. Don't wiggle it and don't try to reposition it yourself. Soft foods only, and call us promptly — displaced permanent teeth are time-sensitive, and splinting is one of the things we do.
Facial swelling. Swelling with a toothache can mean an abscess — an infection that needs prompt care, not a wait-and-see. Call us the same day; if it's spreading toward the eye or neck or comes with high fever, that's the T-911 list above.