February is National Children’s Dental Health Month. The National Children’s Dental Health Month is a…
Do you Have a Dental Emergency Kit?
Most everyone has a first aid kit handy, especially if they have kids or are very active, but do you have a dental emergency kit? You might not think that this is an important thing to have when everything is just fine, but one dental emergency is enough to scare you into wishing that you had a kit available to handle the issues that could arise. There does not need to be anything fancy about this kit – simply a container with a few important tools will be enough to get you through any dental emergency.
Items to Have on Hand
When you experience a laceration in the mouth, knocked or chipped tooth, and/or a severe toothache, you will be grateful that you have the following items on hand.
- Sterile gauze or cloths – Before you put anything in your mouth, whether it is to stop the bleeding or to control the pain, you want to make sure that it is sterile. The more germs you put in your mouth during a time of crisis, the worse the outcome may be. Having plenty of sterile gauze pads handy can help you to apply pressure if your mouth is bleeding excessively; give you something sterile to grab a knocked out tooth with; or give you something to make a cold compress with to control the pain.
- Sterile container – If a tooth is knocked out or even chipped, gathering the pieces or the entire tooth is essential. What is also important is how that tooth or fragments of the tooth are handled. You should not pick it up from the roots, only the crown. They must then be placed in a safe, moist place. With a sterile container on hand, you can place the tooth in milk or your own saliva in the container until you can be seen.
- Ice pack – Almost any type of dental emergency will be painful. Ice can typically help to minimize that pain and as an added benefit, can help to minimize swelling.
These three items are all that it takes to set up an appropriate dental emergency kit. It saves you from experiencing even more panic when the emergency occurs and you are unable to find anything suitable to handle the situation. It is also a good idea to keep our phone number in there so that once things are calmed down, you can give us a call so that we may direct you on the next step to take to rectify the problem that has occurred.
Dr. Jordan Cooper is from Jacksonville, AR. His father is Dr. James Cooper, a Jonesboro, AR native and practicing dentist of 39 years and his mother, Tracy Cooper, is a dental hygienist from Little Rock. Dr. Cooper graduated high school from Central Arkansas Christian, after which he entered at the University of Arkansas as a Chancellor’s Scholar in 1998.
Dr. David Cole is a graduate from the University of Arkansas, receiving his degree in 2016, and is a huge Razorback fan! He then went to dental school at the University of Tennessee where he received his D.D.S. in 2021. He looks forward to getting to know the Central Arkansas area, and serving his community!
Dr. Rasmussen is a Hot Springs native who graduated from the University of Central Arkansas in 2017 (Go Bears). After receiving his D.D.S from The University of Tennessee in 2021, he is looking forward to serving the central Arkansas community and the wonderful people who live here.
Dr. James Cooper was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas. He studied at the University of New Mexico and graduated from dental school from the University of Missouri, Kansas City. After 2 years of dental experience with the Army, Dr. Cooper moved to Jacksonville in 1973 to practice dentistry.