Call an Emergency Dentist When Your Jaw or Teeth is Damaged

As an emergency dentist, we see a lot of different patients come through with a number of different emergencies. Among the most common emergencies are severe toothaches, chipped or broken teeth, teeth that have been knocked out, a broken or fractured jaw, something lodged in between teeth, and a severely bitten lip or tongue. All of these are reasons to come into our dental office which will allow us to treat your injury, avoid further complications, and get you back to your day as soon as possible. While a trip to the dentist may be unplanned, it is the best way to ensure your oral health after an accident.

I think I have broken my jaw, should I come in and see a dentist? The answer, in a word, is absolutely. If you believe that you have fractured your jaw, you should immediately make your way into the emergency room or go see an emergency dentist. A fractured mandible is a serious medical condition and should be dealt with immediately to avoid complications and to reduce your pain as quickly as possible.

How can I tell if I have a broken jaw? A broken jaw, which is typically a fracture, is relatively easy to diagnose even before you visit our dentist office. First, you will need to have been in some kind of an incident or accident which caused you to believe that your jaw may be broken.

The ways people can break their jaw are:

• An accident caused by a fall. This is especially true for children who are prone to falling and also in adults. Adults can fall due to age or a tendency to faint. Hitting your jaw in a fall (or your child doing so) may result in a break.
• Hitting your jaw against the dashboard of a car or other vehicle during to an accident. The impact of a solid object, like your dashboard, hitting your jaw can fracture the mandible leading to a broken jaw.
• Impact with the jaw while playing a contact sport. Contact sports can result in a broken jaw if you take severe trauma to the jaw during a hard hit or by falling to the ground during the sport.
• Getting in a fight and taking a punch or a hard slap to the jaw can also result in your jaw being broken.

If you have been in any of these situations, look for some of the symptoms of a broken jaw that includes:

• Severe pain in the jaw and mandibular joints
• Inability to open your jaw very wide
• Difficulty talking and swallowing
• Bruising, swelling, and tenderness along the jawbone
• Your jaw feeling “off” and out of alignment. Sometimes you can even see the misalignment of the jaw
• Missing or misaligned teeth

Should I do anything before seeing an emergency dentist? There are steps you can take to reduce the swelling and keep the jaw stable. These are:

• Use a towel to stabilize the jaw by wrapping it around your chin and jaw. Secure it to the top of your head by tying it in place.
• Apply light pressure using a cold compress to the site of the fracture. This will help reduce swelling and also help you with some of the localized pain.

Most importantly contact our office immediately and let us know that you may have a fractured jaw.