Is there anything that strikes a parent’s heart more than a child in pain? No parent wants to hear their child complain about the pain of any kind. Toothache pain is no different. There is good, better, and potentially bad news on this front.
The good news is toothaches are usually minor and not significant dental or medical issues. The better news is that some simple remedies can help ease your child’s discomfort without visiting our pediatric dentist in Waterloo immediately.
The potentially bad news? A toothache that does not resolve quickly or toothaches that emerge regularly may indicate a damaged tooth or even the presence of tooth decay. Suppose your child suffers persistent toothaches or a toothache worsens or continues despite the careful application of home remedies. In that case, our pediatric dentist in Waterloo will quickly identify the underlying cause and resolve those troubling symptoms.
To ease your child’s pain and all parents’ angst over a hurt child, here are some suggestions about how to respond when a child complains about a toothache and an introduction to several possible home remedies for minor and occasional toothaches.
How to respond when a child has a toothache
Here are four steps that every parent should take in response to a child’s complaint about a toothache.
Ask questions to understand the pain, such as: where does it hurt? When did it start hurting? Does it always hurt, or is it an off-and-on kind of pain? When should you call a dentist? All the information you glean from these questions is stuff you should tell your child’s dentist in Waterloo if the toothache persists for over a day or prevents your child from sleeping.
Look for any injury. Look carefully throughout your child’s mouth — tongue, teeth, gums, and cheeks — for any indication they were injured in an accident, collision, or fall. Even if you do not see any obvious signs of injury, ask your child if they remember any incident. Share any information you obtain with our dentist near you if your child’s toothache persists.
Look for suggestions of gum disease or tooth decay. Injury is not the only possible cause of toothache. Gum disease and tooth decay can also cause pain in your child’s gums and teeth that they may not be able to describe in any way other than as a toothache. Look carefully at your child’s teeth and gums for any signs of dental disease — brown spots on teeth, obvious pits or crumbling areas, swollen gums, bleeding gums, abscesses, bleeding gums, bleeding gums, sores or pimple-like spots on gums. All of these are possible suggestions for pain-inducing tooth decay or gum disease. Advise our dentist of what you find.
Try to ease your child’s toothache symptoms. If your questions and examinations don’t reveal any cause of a toothache that warrants immediate intervention by our pediatric dentist in Waterloo, try to relieve your child’s symptoms at home. Gently flossing around each tooth may help dislodge debris trapped between teeth that could cause pain.
Give your child some over-the-counter ibuprofen or acetaminophen as directed to help ease your child’s discomfort. Use cold compresses or ice packs outside your child’s cheek on the hurt side, and keep your child’s head elevated as much as possible while the pain recedes.
Pediatric dentists share a universal goal to establish excellent daily oral hygiene habits from your child’s youngest age. Establishing those habits aims to prevent the development of tooth decay, gum disease, or tooth pain requiring any intervention. If you’re looking for a pediatric dentist to support your child’s dental development and your whole family’s health, please contact our pediatric dentist in Waterloo. We look forward to meeting your child.