There is no doubt that there are methods and precautions you can follow to avoid possible dental emergencies. But still they are possible and you need to be ready for that. Such things can happen at any time so find out if your dentist has so-called after-hours-coverage. That will give you a guarantee that at any time you can get professional help from your doctor or his/her assistant.
If your dentist doesn't have such an option you can look for other clinics that can offer it. On the internet you can find different web sites dedicated to stomatology. There you will find dental emergency review. Such review usually contains a complete list of clinics that have after-hours-coverage. Place their phone number in your pocket to be able to contact professional in case of dental emergency.
As long as accident can happen to anyone you need to know what to do. The most common dental emergencies are a bitten tongue or lip, a knocked out tooth, a broken tooth, a cracked tooth or something caught between the teeth and a cracked tooth.
If you happen to bite your tongue it is necessary to clean it. You can make it gently using a small piece of cloth. And to lower possible swelling you can apply cold compress. And if you are not able to stop bleeding for a long time you should go to hospital immediately.
In case of a knocked out tooth you need to be fast. Usually there is a possibility to save it. First thing you need to do is to clean your mouth and knocked out tooth. Then place the tooth in a cup (fill it with water or milk) and take it with you to a dentist.
If pieces of food or any other objects are caught between your teeth first try to remove them gently using dental floss. Never use any instruments to remove these objects yourself - if you can handle it simply visit a dentist.
A toothache can be caused by different reasons. If it occurs you should clean your mouth with warm water. Use an inter-dental cleaner and dental floss. Never use aspirin or any other painkiller (placing it in your mouth close to aching tooth) - it can seriously damage your gum which will cause problems in future. If the pain remains for a longer period of time you should contact you dentist.
In some cases a toothache may appear when you bite. It disappears quickly. That can be a sign of a serious problem ? a cracked tooth. There are many different tooth cracking factors like chewing hard food (like ice or hard candies) or effect of high temperature (temperature changes like drinking cold water after hot coffee). It is pretty hard to notice a cracked tooth. Pain caused by a cracked tooth disappears quickly so people usually ignore it. Some microscopic cracks in a cracked tooth cannot even be discovered with special technique dentist's use.
Modern medicine can offer different methods of a cracked tooth treatment from bonding of a cracked tooth to root canal treatment. The choice of method depends on size of a crack and its location. Pretty rare for a cracked tooth extraction might be needed. Small tooth cracks are usual so you need to perform dental check up regularly to discover all these problems in the beginning. That will help to find the best treatment method.