Dental Care with Jill Cooper

Covid 19 Update

Due to the high risk of transmitting COVID-19, all dental treatment has now stopped in the UK. All help and advice surrounding dental care is now being provided via telephone.

Moving forward specialist centres are being set up to deal with dental emergencies.

What to do if you have a dental problem and what advice is available?

There is self help information below and I am available for telephone consultations and advice. Please ring the practice as normal on 01925 758616. You may need to leave a message but I will get back to you that day and do my best to help.

I now have a small supply of temporary filling material that I can provide to you if you lose a filling and also cement to refit a crown. I also have a supply of some antibiotics and I can provide prescriptions for further antibiotics, fluoride supplements and pain relief medication. I can arrange for you to pick up or for the delivery of any normal dental products such as interdental brushes and high fluoride toothpaste.

Managing dental problems during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The practice is operating a telephone help line for emergencies and advice.

If you have a swelling on your face or difficulty swallowing, this requires  professional attention so contact me for advice on 01925 758616.

If you have dental pain here are a few things you can try to manage the pain until normal services can resume.

Pain from teeth

Decay is a bacterial infection of a tooth. If the bacteria gets close to the nerve in a tooth, it can cause the tooth to be acutely sensitive. As the infection causing inflammation of the nerve gets worse, the ligaments holding the tooth in position can also get inflamed which causes pain on biting.

If the tooth is acutely sensitive to temperature, antibiotics will not fix this. The decay needs to be removed to allow the tooth to heal. If the bacteria has caused irreversible damage to the nerve in the tooth then a root filling is required or the tooth needs to be extracted.

To help manage toothache until you can visit us, there are a few things that may help reduce the pain:

• If there is a cavity in the tooth, a temporary filling material can be packed in to this space. These temporary filling kits are widely available from supermarkets, pharmacies and we now have a small supply of these to distribute if required.
• Anti-inflammatory tablets (NSAIDs) can reduce the sensitivity. A combination of ibuprofen and paracetamol has been found to be beneficial if you can take them both. The dose is for an adult 400mg Ibuprofen and 1g of Paracetamol 4 times a day. Do not exceed this dose. However, there are some reports that Ibuprofen may increase the symptoms ofCOVID-19 so Paracetamol alone is probably best if you have any symptoms of Covid 19. Make sure you don’t exceed the recommended dosage!
• Desensitising toothpaste such as Sensodyne Repair & Protect or Colgate Sensitive Pro Relief can help.
• Anaesthetic gel such as Orajel applied to the area can help to numb the pain.
• Clove Oil – This essential oil can be found in health food stores and you can apply it onto the painful tooth with a cotton bud. This works well if there is an exposed nerve due to deep decay but, for it to work, you need to place it onto the exposed nerve
• Keep your head elevated at night time. When you lie down to go to sleep, the blood pressure in the tooth can increase which increases pain. An extra pillow at night time can help
• Keep the area cold. Reducing blood flow to an area will reduce the inflammation and pain. Apply a cold compress to your face next to the sore tooth, do not apply ice directly to a tooth as this can increase the pain as toothaches are quite sensitive to hot and cold temperatures.

If there is an infection – (a swelling next to the tooth or pus discharging from the gum or around the tooth)

• Rinse your mouth with warm salty mouthwash to try and draw out the infection into your mouth.
• Dissolve a spoonful of salt in warm water and rinse around your mouth/ hold it in your mouth next to the infected area. Repeat several times until the pain subsides.
• Never put heat externally on your face as this can draw the infection into the tissues in your face causing external swellings.
• Ring the surgery for help with any swelling or infection that is not resolving. Antibiotics may be required to prevent the spread of infection. Eventually the problem will have to be dealt with by conventional dental treatments such as extraction, root canal treatments or deep cleaning but in the mean time antibiotics may help to keep the infection under control.

Pain from gums

If there is bacteria or food debris trapped between the gum and the tooth, this can cause pain.

• Thoroughly clean the area with floss or an interdental brush. You could put Corsodyl gel onto the brush to help clean the area
• Rinsing thoroughly with Corsodyl mouthwash can help (but Corsodyl will stain your teeth so we don’t recommend this for long term use)

Pain from ulcers

• To reduce the discomfort, you can try a topical anaesthetic gel such as Orajel
• To help with healing of ulcers, Gengigel can be effective as well as soothing the pain.

Broken teeth

• If a tooth or filling has chipped or cracked, this can cause sensitivity from the tooth being exposed or pain to your tongue from sharp edges.
• The sensitivity can be reduced by rubbing a de-sensitising toothpaste onto the tooth or placing a temporary filling material over the broken corner until a more definitive filling can be placed. Keep the area clean by brushing and using interdental brushes.
• For our patients suffering with broken teeth or lost fillings, although this can be very annoying, problems of this nature are not often considered an urgent dental emergency. Newly fractured teeth can often be quite sensitive initially and then become more comfortable after a few days.

We want to reassure you that once the Covid 19 crisis is resolved, we will be in touch to reschedule your dental appointments. We are keeping records of all the appointments we are postponing and look forward to a time when we can resume business as usual!

We thank you for your patience. We are all in this together and, together, we will get through it. Please take the self-isolation and social distancing advice very seriously and together we can stop the spread of this virus.

Stay safe out there folks.

Best Wishes,

Jill Cooper