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Emergency dental services

Quite often dental problems will catch you completely unawares. This will not always necessarily mean that you have to contact emergency dental services. In the following paragraphs, the smilin’’ dental practice in Rheinfelden near Lörrach and Weil am Rhein presents an overview of what to do if your teeth are suddenly giving you grief.

Our personal service

During the day, the smilin’’ dental practice will assist you as far as we can: During our opening hours you can call us any time and describe your dental problem. Or, if you prefer, you can of course also contact us by e-mail.

• If your symptoms to not require immediate attention, you can make an appointment with our dental practice for the next possible date.
• In extremely urgent cases we will recommend that you contact the emergency dental service closest to where you live.

Below we have listed a number of typical acute dental problems that may occur.

Toothaches

Most cases of toothache do not require the attention of emergency dental services. Usually pain relief medication will help tide you over until you can come in for an examination in our dental practice. Please remember: After dental surgery procedures such as tooth extractions, root canal treatment, or insertion of a dental implant do not on any account take Aspirin. This drug is known to thin the blood and can cause wounds to start bleeding, or increase bleeding.

Sensitivity to cold or heat

Sensitivity to cold is frequently attributable to dental caries or a cracked filling. It may also be experienced if the roots of your teeth are exposed. Sensitivity to heat is generally an indication that the dental nerve is damaged. This does not necessarily mean you have to contact emergency dental services. An examination in our dental practice can help us to identify the cause and take the appropriate steps, for example renewal of a filling, dental caries treatment, or a root canal treatment. If severe pain suddenly stops, this does not mean you can forget about seeing your dentist. Sometimes this is an indication that the tooth root is dying off. To prevent this from turning into a serious dental emergency, you should contact us without delay.

Lost filliing / chipped teeth

If this happens, you do not need to see an emergency dental service, but you should make a dentist appointment as soon as possible: This is a risk to the health of your tooth and requires immediate protective action, for example with a new filling or an artificial dental crown.

Lost bridge, crown, inlay, or temporary prosthesis

If possible, bring the lost part into our dental practice. We can either fit it securely back into your mouth, or provide you with a replacement. This is nothing you need to contact the emergency dental service for.

Broken or damaged dental prosthesis

Again, this is nothing you need to take see the emergency dental service about. Just make an appointment as quickly as possible and we will repair the part as swiftly as we can in our own in-house laboratory. Please do not attempt to repair the damage yourself.

Urgent emergencies

In the following cases you should consult a dentist immediately – or, if there is no other option, contact the emergency dental service:

Knocked out tooth

A tooth that has been knocked out by external force or an accident requires attention without delay. If possible, store the tooth carefully and take it to your dentist or the emergency dental service. Schools usually have tooth rescue boxes at the ready. Alternatively, you can store the tooth in chilled milk or a sterile saline solution for transport to the dentist or emergency service. Dry storage, for example in a paper tissue, is not a good idea, as this will usually cause the tooth root to die off.

Continuous bleeding

A tooth that continues to bleed for a longer period of time after an injury or dental surgery needs to be attended to without delay – if necessary, by the emergency dental service. This way, the cause can be identified and the blood flow can be staunched.

Inflammation accompanied by a temperature

This is frequently accompanied by a swollen cheek. Usually this is caused by an acute bacterial infection. It must be treated immediately, if possible, in our practice or by the emergency dental services. This is imperative in order to prevent the inflammation from spreading to other areas of the body.

Contact us as quickly as possible

The smilin’’ dental practice in Rheinfelden near Lörrach, Weil am Rhein and Basel will be happy to assist you. If the treatment of your dental problem must on no account be postponed, please contact the emergency dental service in the town or area where you live.  You will find the telephone numbers for the emergency dental service  on the Internet.

There are cases where quick repair of your dental prosthesis is called for. In this case, feel free to contact us during our consultation hours and we will correct the problem in the shortest time possible. Outside of our consultation hours, you have the possibility of explaining your issue to us via e-mail – e.g. if your bridge has broken or you have lost a filling or a tooth, or in the event of a tooth breaking. We will respond to you as quickly as possible and tend to a solution.