Every Dentist Needs Your Help Keeping Your Teeth Healthy

Having a tooth knocked out or fall out is a traumatic experience all on its own, but if your gums started bleeding after you lost your tooth and they haven't stopped, that's a serious problem. If you or someone you care about are in this situation, these tips can help to control the bleeding. However, medical attention is necessary. Plan on getting to an emergency dentist's office as soon as you can for treatment.

Teabag

Teabags have frequently been used for slowing down bleeding from a cut in the mouth. There are a couple of reasons behind why they work well. Teabags are absorbent, and they act as a compress, helping your bite to apply equal pressure to the wound to help slow the bleeding. Most importantly, however, is the tea itself.

Tea, especially black tea, contains something called tannins. This is what gives tea is color and what leaves the puckery, astringent feeling in your mouth after a cup of tea. Tannins are useful in creating blood clots, which can help to temporarily stop the bleeding in your mouth.

If you want to use a teabag for this reason, lightly dampen an unwrapped black tea bag and slide it into the area that's bleeding. Then, bite down gently to apply pressure but not so hard that it hurts.

Cotton Packing

If the tea bag doesn't stop your bleeding, you'll need to contain the bleeding while you get to the dentist's office. To do this, you can use cotton packing just like dentists, and dental surgeons do.

If you've ever come home from the dentist's office after surgery or another intensive procedure, like wisdom tooth extraction or a root canal, chances are your dentist put cotton pads in your mouth. This is to help absorb blood and to keep pressure on the wound to encourage it to close.

If you can do so safely, you can reproduce this process by using clean cotton balls at home. Make sure not to consume any of the cotton balls. Also, all the cotton balls you put in your mouth should be tightly clamped between your teeth and the gum that's missing a tooth. If there are any moving around in your mouth, spit them out to avoid having them become a choking hazard.

Medical Attention

Finally, get to your dentist's office. In most cases of knocked out teeth, your dentist will be able to stop the bleeding easily. Typically, you'll have the wound examined, any remaining particles of tooth removed, and if possible, the tooth will be repaired and put back in place. If you don't have the tooth that was knocked out or it's too badly damaged, your dentist will focus on cleaning and stitching your gums and stopping the bleeding. A permanent replacement can be arranged after you've healed up.

Severe bleeding of the gums is a serious problem. If you or a loved one ever have this happen, get medical help right away and apply these steps to slow or stop the bleeding while you're on your way there. Check out a website like http://schillingfarmsdental.com for more information and assistance.