You need urgent dental care in Seattle. This isn’t always available immediately for various reasons. The dentist may not have the space, or you may be traveling and struggling to find someone to take you in. You need to take steps to look after your mouth while you wait for the urgent care.

There are steps that you can take while you wait. Some of this is doing to depend on the exact type of treatment you need. Here are four tips to help while you wait.

Gather All the Pieces of a Broken Tooth If Possible

Your dentist may be able to restore the broken tooth depending on how it’s broken. The best thing you can do is gather all the piece that you can. If your tooth came out fully, don’t remove any tissues form the root. Only hold by the crown to avoid putting bacteria on the root and tissue.

Place the broken pieces or the full tooth into some warm water with a little salt. You can also use a cup of milk instead for this. Take it with you to get your urgent dental care in Seattle.

Use Warm Water to Rinse and a Cold Compress to Keep Swelling Down

Depending on the emergency, you may have cut the gum, or you may have lost a tooth and have an open area. You want to clean this out but avoid mouthwashes or salt water. The best option is just plain warm water. The warm water will help to dislodge any other debris and clean out the wound. Spit out the water afterward.

On the way to urgent dental care in Seattle, you’ll want to reduce the swelling in the mouth. Use a cold compress for this on the outside of the mouth around while the cut or open wound in. You want to avoid getting any debris into the gum when it’s open.

Gently Floss to Remove Debris while Waiting for Urgent Dental Care in Seattle

Sometimes, you’ll just find that there’s debris in your mouth. It could be some food that has gotten stuck, or you may have something from an accident caught in between the teeth. It’s important to get this out if you can to avoid irritation of the gums.

Floss is a great option in this case. You need to use it gently to dislodge the problem. Once you get that out, your gum can start healing. Your dentist is going to need to get that out first, anyway.

Head Straight to the Emergency Room for Broken Jaws

There are certain cases where you can’t wait for the urgent dental care in Seattle. You need to head straight to the emergency room. A broken jaw is one of those cases.

There are other problems with the jaw. The jaw can become locked, or you may have bleeding that just doesn’t stop. These instances require care immediately, and you can’t wait for a local dentist to fit you in. There are experienced personnel at the hospitals to help.

While you don’t want to wait for urgent dental care in Seattle, sometimes you need to. Take steps to look after the problem while you’re waiting or on route to the hospital.