What to do right now, by symptom

Do this, in this order

1. 1Pick the tooth up by the crown, the chewing part. Never touch the root surface.
2. 2If it is dirty, rinse it for a couple of seconds in milk or saline. Do not scrub it.
3. 3Put it straight back into the socket the right way round and bite gently on a clean cloth.
4. 4If you cannot reimplant it, store it in cold milk or saline and bring it with you.
5. 5Call the emergency line on the way, not after you arrive.

Do this, in this order

1. 1Do not reimplant a baby tooth. Pushing it back can damage the permanent tooth forming above it.
2. 2Fold clean gauze, place it over the socket and have the child bite for ten minutes.
3. 3Cold compress on the outside of the lip or cheek, twenty minutes on, twenty off.
4. 4Soft food and no straws for the rest of the day.
5. 5Call us the same day so we can check for pieces left in the socket.

Do this, in this order

1. 1Rinse with warm water and find the fragment if you can. Keep it in milk.
2. 2Cover a sharp edge with a pellet of orthodontic wax or sugar-free gum so it stops cutting your tongue.
3. 3Cold compress on the cheek for swelling, and chew on the other side only.
4. 4Take your usual over-the-counter painkiller at the dose on the packet.
5. 5Call us. We will smooth the edge today even if the full repair is booked later.

Do this, in this order

1. 1Rinse with warm salt water, a half teaspoon in a cup.
2. 2Floss gently either side. Trapped food causes a surprising share of severe aches.
3. 3Cold compress outside the cheek. Heat on a swelling makes it worse, not better.
4. 4Take paracetamol or ibuprofen at packet doses if they suit you, and sleep with your head propped up.
5. 5Note what sets it off: cold, heat, biting, or nothing at all. It tells us a great deal.

Do this, in this order

1. 1Keep the crown. Rinse it and store it somewhere you will not lose it.
2. 2Clean the tooth gently. Exposed dentine is sensitive to cold air as well as cold drinks.
3. 3Pharmacy temporary cement can hold a crown for a day or two if it seats without force.
4. 4Avoid chewing on that side and skip anything sticky.
5. 5Call us. Recementing an intact crown is usually a short visit.

Do this, in this order

1. 1Check the red flags first: an eye closing, swelling under the tongue or into the neck, fever, or any difficulty breathing or swallowing means the emergency room, now.
2. 2Otherwise call the emergency line and describe when it started and how fast it is growing.
3. 3Cold compress outside the cheek, and keep your head raised when you lie down.
4. 4Drink fluids and eat something soft. Dehydration makes everything harder.
5. 5Write down your medical history and allergies before the call.

Do this, in this order

1. 1Rinse once with cool water so you can see where the bleeding comes from.
2. 2Press with folded gauze or a clean cloth for a full ten minutes. Do not lift it to check.
3. 3If it is still bleeding, repeat once. Cold compress on the outside at the same time.
4. 4Tell us if you take a blood thinner. It changes what we expect and what we do.
5. 5A cut that gapes open, or one through the lip border, needs stitches today.

Do this, in this order

1. 1Stop wearing a cracked denture. Chewing on it will turn one break into three.
2. 2Keep every piece, including the small ones, and bring them in a bag.
3. 3Cover a poking orthodontic wire with wax or a small pellet of cotton wool.
4. 4A blunt pencil eraser can nudge a wire flat in an emergency. Never cut a wire at home.
5. 5Rinse with warm salt water if the spot is ulcerated.