Emergency Dental Care for Children

We know you are not able to plan when an emergency is going to happen, but we are here to help if something should occur.
If you feel that your child requires emergency medical or pediatric dental care in Indianapolis or West Lafayette, call 911 or go directly to the nearest emergency room. We realize that not all situations are emergencies, however, if they are bleeding severely, experienced major trauma to the face or jaw, have lost consciousness, or are having difficulty breathing, we still strongly recommend a trip to the emergency room.

Non-emergency in office care

More often than not, there are plenty of situations that cause severe discomfort that don’t merit emergency pediatric dental care and can be treated right in our office. We realize that this is still of great concern as a parent as we never enjoy seeing our children suffering. The best thing you can do in these moments as a parent is to remain calm and follow the basic guidelines below until our pediatric dentists can perform a proper examination and determine the best treatment options for your child.

The following situations can usually be comforted at home until it’s either remedied or you can get in during normal office hours.

Bumped Tooth

Oftentimes when a tooth gets bumped or your child bit down on something hard, the tooth and surrounding tissues can become tender and loose. If this situation occurs our kid’s dentists recommend the following:

  • Cold Compress – Using ice packs or other forms of cold compress even on the outside of the mouth and jaw can also help reduce pain and swelling.
  • Soft foods only – Eliminate hard to chew or crunchy foods from your child’s diet especially around the tender or swollen area.
  • Thumb sucking – Keep them from sucking their thumb or using a pacifier.
  • Pain Relievers – If the pain persists feel free to administer over the counter pain relievers like Tylenol or Motrin.
  • Contact – Even if you are successful in relieving your child’s immediate discomfort, our children’s dentists recommend scheduling an appointment for a proper follow up examination to ensure the problem is in fact alleviated or if further pediatric dental treatment is necessary. Please contact our office immediately if their tooth is extremely loose or severely out of position.

Fractured, Chipped or Broken Tooth

  • Clean – Gently clean the area with warm water
  • Cold Compress – Using ice packs or other forms of cold compress even on the outside of the mouth and jaw can also help reduce pain and swelling.
  • Pain Relievers – If the pain persists feel free to administer over the counter pain relievers like Tylenol or Motrin.
  • Storage – If there are any broken tooth fragments, be sure to gather as many as you can and place them in milk in order to bring them with you to your pediatric dental appointment.
  • Small Fractures – If the fracture is small, eliminate hard to chew or crunchy foods from your child’s diet especially around the fractured area and keep them from sucking their thumb or using a pacifier.
  • Large Fractures – If the fracture is LARGE meaning half or more of the tooth, you see pink in the middle or there is bleeding or sensitivity, please call our children’s dentists offices in Indianapolis or West Lafayette immediately.

Displaced Tooth / Teeth that have been moved or intruded

  • Leave as is – Don’t try and move their tooth or teeth back into their original position.
  • Soft foods only – Eliminate hard to chew or crunchy foods from your child’s diet especially around the tender or swollen area.
  • Thumb sucking – Keep them from sucking their thumb or using a pacifier.
  • Pain Relievers – If the pain persists feel free to administer over the counter pain relievers like Tylenol or Motrin.
  • Cold Compress – Using ice packs or other forms of cold compress even on the outside of the mouth and jaw can also help reduce pain and swelling.
  • Contact – Contact one of our pediatric dentist offices immediately to schedule an appointment.

Knocked-Out Baby Tooth

Depending on your child’s age, It is possible that the tooth could have already been slightly mobile which is usually not an emergency, and in most cases a quick follow up pediatric dental appointment is the only treatment necessary.

**DO NOT replant the tooth as this could cause damage to the developing permanent tooth.

  • Cold Compress – Using ice packs or other forms of cold compress even on the outside of the mouth and jaw can also help reduce pain and swelling.
  • Bleeding – Bleeding can be managed by having them bite down on a gauze or clean washcloth. If it continues for 15 minutes try having them bite down on a tea bag.
  • Thumb sucking – Keep them from sucking their thumb or using a pacifier including a sippy cup for 24 hours or until they can be seen by one of our children’s dentists.
  • Cold Compress – Using ice packs or other forms of cold compress even on the outside of the mouth and jaw can also help reduce pain and swelling.
  • Contact – Contact one of our pediatric dentist offices immediately to schedule an appointment.

Knocked-Out Permanent (Adult) Tooth

**Contact our office immediately – the faster you act, the better the chances of saving the tooth.

  • Locate the tooth – Find the tooth, hold by the crown portion and rinse it off with cool water (DO NOT touch the root of the tooth)
  • Reinsert – Try to reinsert it in the socket if possible and have the child hold the tooth in place and get to one of our pediatric dentists immediately.
  • Storage – If you can’t put the tooth back in its socket, place the tooth in a clean container with cold milk until you arrive.

Common Toothache

A common toothache can be caused by a variety of different things such as a tooth that is in the process of erupting, infections, a lost or broken filling, trauma of any sort, and tooth decay. If your child is experiencing a persistent toothache, our pediatric dentists in Indianapolis and West Lafayette recommend starting with the following:

  • Rinse mouth – Use warm salt water to rinse the mouth thoroughly
  • Visual check – Look for any visible evidence around the area of discomfort
  • Visible evidence – If you see something like food or other particles of concern use a toothbrush or dental floss to help remove and relieve the impacted area.
  • Pain Relievers – If the pain persists feel free to administer over the counter pain relievers like Tylenol or Motrin.
  • Cold Compress – Using ice packs or other forms of cold compress even on the outside of the mouth and jaw can also help reduce pain and swelling.
  • Contact – Even if you are successful in relieving your child’s immediate discomfort, our children’s dentists recommend scheduling an appointment for a proper follow up examination to ensure the problem is in fact alleviated or if further pediatric dental treatment is necessary. Please contact our office immediately if their toothache becomes more severe especially if there is major swelling, and there is fever or pain that is preventing them from eating or sleeping.

Bitten Tongue, Cheek or Lips

Mild cuts and abrasions to the tongue, cheek or lips are a common byproduct of minor injuries, especially in active children. In most situations, our kid’s dentists find that the following tips are usually quite helpful:

  • Clean – Gently clean the area with warm water
  • Cold Compress – Using ice packs or other forms of cold compress even on the outside of the mouth and jaw can also help reduce pain and swelling.
  • Pain Relievers – If the pain persists feel free to administer over the counter pain relievers like Tylenol or Motrin.
  • Pressure – If bleeding, apply firm but gentle pressure with a gauze or cloth. If bleeding persists for 15 minutes, please call one of our children’s dentists immediately to determine the severity or go to the nearest emergency room

Lost or broken Filling, Crown or Appliance / Spacer

Unless your child is experiencing swelling and severe discomfort, it is likely that you can avoid after hours care until you can make an in office appointment by doing the following:

  • Soft foods only – Eliminate hard to chew or crunchy foods from your child’s diet.
  • Pain Relievers – If the pain persists feel free to administer over the counter pain relievers like Tylenol or Motrin.
  • Rinse mouth – use warm salt water to rinse the mouth thoroughly and discourage your child from poking or disturbing the area
  • Storage – If the filling, filling pieces, crown, or appliance spacer came out completely, please keep it clean in a small container until we are able schedule an appointment for you during normal business hours at one of our pediatric dental offices in Indianapolis or West Lafayette.