Keeping track of your child’s health, vaccinations, and medical records are some of the biggest responsibilities as a parent. Annual routine checks are an essential part of maintaining your child’s health, but sometimes unseen circumstances can arise in which your child needs immediate medical attention.
It is important and a good rule of thumb to prepare for any medical emergency to alleviate stress and waiting time for both yourself and your child. When it comes to dental health, this is just as important as overall health. Your children and their teeth are in crucial developing stages, and if action is not taken, a severe oral injury could impact their appearance and health for potentially the remainder of their life.
1. Accidents
For their health, it is encouraged if not required that children take recess breaks throughout their formative years in school. This usually includes play time in areas such as fields, playgrounds, or courts. However, younger children are often prone to engaging in rough and tumble activities and without constant supervision, accidents can occur.
Teeth can become cracked, chipped, or even knocked out completely during roughhousing. It is important to have an emergency dentist on call for immediate service. The quicker you are able to get your child into their chair, the better chance you have of salvaging the tooth and for a full recovery.
2. Sports and Extracurricular Activities
Similarly, older children are also at risk for sustaining major dental injuries. With so many children and older students engaging in sports and physical hobbies, the possibility of injury is always present. Children in contact sports such as football, basketball, lacrosse, and soccer have a much higher chance of sustaining dental injuries.
Though younger children have baby teeth that fall out regardless, if an older child injures an adult tooth, it can become a serious problem. Adult teeth in older children and adolescents are still softer and in the process of developing. Accidents occur on playing fields every day, even in sports that do not typically involve physical contact such as tennis or running. If your child has a demanding physical schedule that includes multiple sports or is on a travelling team, it is a good idea to have an emergency dentist in the case of an unexpected accident.
3. Orthodontic Complications
Most children at some stage require things such as braces, retainers, and other devices to correct mouth problems early on. While this is preventative, there are always risks when dealing with medical equipment – even ones created to endure eating, chewing, and cleaning. Typically, both the child and parent are issued handouts and/or instructions on maintaining their dental work and equipment.
However, many times children will underestimate the rules required to keep the integrity of their dental work. Quite often, they will break the rules, most notably eating food such as popcorn, hard candy, or gum. This can result in food becoming stuck in the devices or the child’s teeth themselves.
In these cases, an emergency procedure may be required to remove not only the device as well as the food, but also to reinstate the device. Some orthodontic equipment such as retainers can be removed on their own, but others such as braces or expanders require a medical professional.
Conclusion
As a parent, you are the one expected to prepare for any and all situations. When dealing with emergency situations, the last thing anyone wants is for their child to be in pain and unable to fix it as soon as possible.
Ask your dentist at your child’s next check-up and cleaning for any recommendations or referrals for an emergency on-call paediatric dentist. By preparing in advance, you will save yourself the worry and wait in the future. If you are looking for a dentist in the NW Calgary area, or simply want to learn more about various dental procedures, give our office a call at Dentrix Dental Care. Our experienced family dentists are on-hand to help with routine check-ups and emergency procedures.