Pediatric Emergency Dental Care in Santa Clara, CA

Emergency Pediatric Dentist

Dental emergencies can be scary for both children and their parents. Remain calm because we are here to help. If your child is in pain, call our Santa Clara office to set up an appointment. For emergencies, we offer same-day appointments to address urgent dental needs quickly. Our board-certified pediatric dentists are trained to handle a wide range of dental emergencies for children throughout Santa Clara County. Call one of our offices as early as possible to ensure prompt care.

On-Call Emergency Dentist For Kids

Our office has an emergency dentist for kids on call at Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and Morgan Hill locations. When your child experiences a dental emergency, our team is ready to provide immediate assistance and guidance. Whether it’s a knocked-out tooth, severe toothache, or dental trauma from an accident, our Santa Clara emergency pediatric dental team is prepared to help your child get the care they need.

Dental Emergency FAQs

Child Broken Tooth

A pediatric dental emergency should be addressed as soon as possible, especially when it involves broken teeth. If your child has a broken tooth, there is a problem with the tooth structure itself. Kids’ teeth may break due to extensive decay, heavy grinding, or an injury. Whatever the cause, the broken tooth must be fixed right away to avoid exposing the inside of the tooth to bacteria, which may cause infection.

Our trusted board-certified emergency pediatric dentists at our Santa Clara location will assess your child’s broken tooth and inform you exactly what is required to save the tooth. We will go through the treatment options and costs involved. Getting the right treatment done can save your child’s teeth as well as prevent toothache and discomfort. Let our trusted Bay Area kids’ emergency dentist keep your kids smiling and happy.

My child fell and hit his teeth. Do I have to bring them in?

If they are in extreme pain or the teeth have shifted or chipped, we recommend bringing them to our Santa Clara office. For permanent teeth, the situation should be addressed as soon as possible, and the tooth should be placed in milk or saline solution until a dental team is able to reimplant the tooth if possible. For baby teeth, reimplantation is typically not necessary since the adult tooth will eventually take its place.

My child has a toothache or tooth pain

Where is the pain specifically? When did it begin? Is it only when they eat, or does it keep them up at night? The answers to these questions help us determine the severity and urgency of the situation. Our team wants to provide the highest quality care to your child, so if you give us a call, we’ll try to get an idea of what is happening. Your next step will be to take a picture of that area of the mouth.

You can then send it to our Santa Clara email: scfront@bayareakidsdentist.com

We’ll then show our dentists the picture with the information you provided and we can decide if something can be taken care of at home or if an appointment is necessary. Regardless, your child will be in good hands with our Santa Clara team.

My child has a bump on his gum, and it looks really inflamed. Do I have to bring them for a dental emergency checkup?

A bump on the gum could be several things. It could be the beginning of an adult tooth erupting, or it could also be a sign of an infection. We understand those are very different scenarios, but there’s a solution to both. In either case, we’ll still request a picture of the area of concern to be sent to our email. If you would like to bring in your child for an exam at our Santa Clara office, we would be happy to make the time for you.

My child has an extra tooth or another tooth growing in next to it

In very rare cases, there is a possibility of a supernumerary tooth, which simply means your child has an extra tooth. More commonly, that “extra tooth” is actually just the adult/permanent tooth growing in, and the baby tooth before it just hasn’t received word that it’s time to fall out to make room. If the tooth is super wiggly, we’ll recommend just spending the next two weeks encouraging your child to wiggle it out. If it doesn’t happen by then, we can schedule an appointment to extract the baby tooth at our Santa Clara office.

My child’s baby teeth are spaced far apart

That’s completely normal! Children’s primary/baby teeth are smaller than adult teeth, so when the time comes for the baby teeth to fall out and the permanent adult teeth to come in, the adult teeth will have more than enough space. If your child has a majority of adult teeth and spacing is still a concern, our dentists at Bay Area Kids Dentist will recommend a complimentary consultation at our orthodontics office.

We recently did the treatment, and my child is experiencing some discomfort

In cases where we do crowns or a deep filling, it’s common for children to be a little uncomfortable in that area for a few days. Not only is your child getting used to the feeling, but the gums themselves are also healing and acclimating since the treatment. It’s important to keep our dentists in the loop so they can monitor the healing. However, if the discomfort lasts longer than a few days, we would recommend scheduling a follow-up appointment at our Santa Clara location.

First Aid for Dental Emergencies

Toothache

Clean the area around the tooth thoroughly. Rinse the mouth vigorously with warm salt water or use dental floss to dislodge trapped food or debris. DO NOT place aspirin on the gum or the aching tooth. If the face is swollen, apply a cold compress. Take Ibuprofen for pain and see a dentist as soon as possible.

Knocked-Out Permanent Tooth

Find the tooth. Handle by the crown, not the root portion. You may rinse the tooth, but DO NOT clean or handle the root unnecessarily. Try to reinsert it in the socket. Have the child hold the tooth in place by biting on a clean gauze or cloth. If you cannot reinsert the tooth, transport the tooth in a cup of milk. See a dentist IMMEDIATELY! Time is critical in saving the tooth.

Cut or Bitten Tongue, Lip, or Cheek

Apply ice to bruised areas. If there is bleeding, apply firm but gentle pressure with clean gauze or cloth. If bleeding does not stop after about 15 minutes or it cannot be controlled by simple pressure, take the child to a hospital emergency room.

Cold/Canker Sore

Usually, over-the-counter preparations give relief. However, some more serious diseases may begin as sores. If these sores persist, it is important to have a dental evaluation at our Santa Clara office.

Schedule Emergency Dental Care Today

For pediatric dental emergencies in Santa Clara, our team is ready to help. We also offer sedation dentistry and laughing gas options to help anxious children feel more comfortable during emergency procedures. Contact us today or call our Santa Clara office at (408) 736-3500 for immediate assistance.