What To Do If You Have A Dental Emergency During Lockdown
posted 15th May 2020
From the end of March, the government has imposed a lockdown for England. This means all non essential services have had to temporarily close including most dental services. This is to protect the public and NHS, and prevent the spread of infection.
Unfortunately tooth ache and dental emergencies don't stop during lockdown, and there may be several emergencies you could encounter during lockdown, and may want to know if there are lockdown dentists, or lockdown dental treatments available?
Due to guidance form the government most dental services during lockdown are limited, however, we are still OPEN to provide you with dental emergency help an advice.
Some typical examples of dental emergencies include broken or chipped teeth and filling, toothache and tooth pain, bleeding gums and swollen gums, sensitive teeth, wisdom tooth pain, loose crowns and broken dentures.
Although we cannot provide all the normal treatments at the moment, there is advice and other help we can provide to get you through lockdown until you can come and see us to have proper dental treatment and dentistry after lockdown.
Please see below about how you can manage toothache at home and other temporary fixes for your dental emergencies.
Please contact us during lockdown for your tailored emergency lockdown dental advice on
Pain Relief During Lockdown
The best pain killers to take are Ibuprofen if you can take it, or Paracetamol. IN severe pain, you can take both together.
Please call us for advice on the dose and which pain killers are best for you.
We will be able to ask you questions to try and work out what is causing the pain, and then recommend the best pain killers and care for you.
You may need to come in after lockdown to have a filling, root canal treatment, or tooth extraction if that is the source of the pain.
Bleeding Gums and Swollen Gums
Bleeding gums should normally settle down by themselves. It is your body telling you need to pay more attention in this area when cleaning. Being more thorough with brushing twice daily, and using floss or interdental brushes daily will help reduce this bleeding gums.
The use of warm salt water gargles (mix a teaspoon of salt into warm water and mix together) and Corsodyl mouthwash will help reduce any swelling and inflammation in addition to the above advice.
You may need to come in after lockdown to have your teeth cleaned by the dental hygienist, or periodontal treatment for gum disease.
Tooth Sensitivity
Tooth sensitivity can occur when the nerves are exposed following over brushing or broken fillings and teeth.
The use of a temporary filling kit can help to cover the exposed nerves.
In addition, you can rub a desensitising toothpaste such as Sensodyne over the sensitive teeth 3/4 times a day.
You may need to come in after lockdown to have a filling to cover over any exposed nerves.
WIsdom Tooth Pain
Most wisdom tooth flare ups can be managed with improved cleaning using a thinner, smaller toothbrush head.
The use of warm salt water gargles (mix a teaspoon of salt into warm water and mix together) and Corsodyl mouthwash will help reduce any swelling and inflammation in addition to the above advice.
Painkillers will also help in the short term.
You may need to come in after lockdown to have your teeth cleaned by the dental hygienist, or an xray to see if your tooth is growing correctly.
