What to Do When Your Child is Suffering from Dental Pain: A Parent’s Emergency Guide

Watching one’s child suffer from dental pain is emotionally heartbreaking for parents. If the tooth is damaged, the parents need to act quickly to prevent further complications and reduce pain.

Children’s dental emergencies can require specialised care. It is because the child’s teeth and jaws are still in a developmental stage. Keeping this in mind, this guide is prepared to help parents during a dental emergency and to advise them on who to contact for an emergency paediatric dentist in Brisbane.

  
    Quick Summary
  
      Dental emergencies in children occur due to tooth decay, developmental issues, infection, or trauma. 
    
      If a permanent tooth is completely knocked out, then it requires immediate action
    
      Do not try to push a baby's tooth back into the socket. 
    
     Immediately visit a specialist paediatric dentist to get child-friendly emergency treatment.

Common Causes of Dental Pain in Children

The paediatric dental emergencies can be classified into two categories:

1). Tooth Decay/Defects and Infection
Regular dental checks are required to avoid dental problems. If an issue remains untreated, it can spread to the inner nerve of the tooth. The result is severe pain, swelling, and infection. Children will struggle to eat, sleep or focus when the pain becomes intense.

2). Dental Trauma
Sudden falls, sports injuries, or playground accidents can cause cracked, chipped, or knocked-out teeth. It's quite common for young children due to their active lifestyles.

What Should Parents Do During a Traumatic Dental Emergency?

Stay calm and Look For Injury

Rinse your child’s mouth first gently with warm water. Check for bleeding due to injury. If it’s there, then place a clean cloth on that point with gentle pressure. Do not use a tissue.
Handling Knocked-Out ADULT Teeth Carefully

If possible, find and place the knocked-out tooth back in its place. If you cannot do this. Put it in milk or water and contact a child friendly paediatric dentist.

Caution: Do not try to put the baby tooth back into the socket. This can damage the developing tooth underneath.

Contact an Emergency Paediatric Dentist Immediately

Children become anxious during dental trauma due to the severe pain. Seek specialist paediatric dentists like ours, Children’s Dental Centre, who are trained to treat children in such emergencies. Click the contact button for more details. Most often, the damaged teeth can be saved and prevent future complications.

How Are Damaged Teeth Treated?

Treatment varies depending on the seriousness of the injury or infection.

If a baby tooth is heavily damaged, the paediatric dentists will still aim to save it, such as with crowns, instead of extracting it. The baby teeth are important for guiding developing adult teeth into the correct position.

Stainless steel crowns are perfect for treating back molars.
Zirconia crowns keep a natural white appearance for front teeth. They are similar to stainless steel crowns but look better.

Understanding Emergency Dental Costs

During a sudden dental emergency, paying bills can be financially stressful for parents. You can check eligibility early through the Child Dental Benefits Schedule(CDBS) under Medicare to get support.

Other options include getting private health insurance. After treatment, claims can easily be processed by insurance companies. We will always quote prior to treatment.

Final Thoughts

Dental emergencies always occur out of nowhere. Being prepared with the information on how to act can make a difference in protecting your child’s teeth and oral health.

If your child experiences initial symptoms of severe pain, swelling, or dental trauma, contact an emergency paediatric dentist in Brisbane immediately. It will prevent further complications, reduce discomfort and protect the child’s developing teeth.