Best ways to contact Dr. Jeff if you have an emergency:

If your emergency happens during office hours, call immediately. If you receive a message that the office team is assisting a customer or on another line, please call back every few minutes until you get through.

If your emergency happens after office hours, listen to the recorded greeting and press “2” on your phone to record a message that will go directly to Dr. Jeff’s phone.

Things you should know —

Steps to Save a Knocked-Out Tooth

Act quickly and a knocked-out tooth may be able to be reimplanted in the jaw. And, if getting to Dr. Jeff, or any dentist, immediately after a tooth has been knocked out is impossible, then you may want to try slipping the tooth back into its socket. In many cases, it will slip right in. Make sure it's facing the right way. Don't try to force it into the socket. If it doesn't go back into place easily and without pressure, then it's better just to hold it between the cheek and gum or to keep it in milk, saliva or water. Even if the odds of success seem poor, Dr. Jeff recommends that you try to save the tooth. It usually takes about two weeks for ligaments in the jaw to firmly reattach to the tooth. Because soft tissues inside the tooth are most likely damaged, you can expect to need a root canal at some point, which will prevent the tooth from darkening or becoming infected.

Handling a Knocked Out Tooth –

How the tooth is handled right after the accident will largely determine whether it can be saved. To improve the chances of the tooth being saved, Dr. Jeff suggests doing the following:

• Handle the tooth carefully. Avoid touching the root of the tooth (the part of the tooth that was embedded in the gum) because it can be damaged easily.
• If the tooth is dirty, hold it by the upper part (the crown) and rinse it off with milk until most of the dirt is washed away. If you don't have any milk available, then it is best to leave the tooth alone. Wiping it off with a handkerchief or shirttail may cause additional damage.
• It is important to keep the tooth moist. If possible, drop it into a glass of milk. If no milk is available, then place the tooth in the mouth between the cheek and gum.
• A young child who has had a tooth knocked out may not be able to safely "store" the tooth in his or her mouth without swallowing it, so don't give the tooth to a young child for safe-keeping in his or her mouth. Place the tooth in milk or have the child spit into a container and place the tooth in the cup with the saliva. The most important thing is to keep the tooth moist. Use a cup of water if nothing else is available.

Fractured Teeth

There is no way to treat fractured teeth at home. You need to see Dr. Jeff whenever a tooth is sensitive to changes in temperature or if it hurts while you're eating. Pain that's constant is a serious warning sign because it may mean that a fracture has damaged the nerve and live tissues inside the tooth.

Broken Teeth

You'll want to see Dr. Jeff as soon as possible. He will need to determine if the break was caused by decay and if the nerve is in danger. Adults with a damaged nerve usually will require root canal therapy, but in children, there's a possibility the nerve can be saved if Dr. Jeff is able to treat the problem immediately.

In the meantime —

• Save the pieces. If the break was relatively clean, your dentist may be able to cement the tooth back together as a temporary measure.
• Rinse your mouth well with warm water. If you were able to save the tooth fragment(s), rinse them under running water.
• If an area is bleeding, apply a piece of gauze to the area for about 10 minutes or until the bleeding stops.
• Apply a cold compress to the cheek or lips over the broken tooth. This will help reduce swelling and relieve pain.
• If you can't get to your dentist right away, cover the broken surface of the tooth that is in your mouth with temporary dental cement, available in pharmacies.
• Take an over-the-counter pain reliever.

Broken Jaw

If you suspect you or someone else has a broken jaw, do not move it. The jaw should be secured in place with a handkerchief, necktie or towel tied around the jaw and over the top of the head. Cold compresses should be used to reduce swelling, if present. Go immediately to a hospital emergency room, or call Dr. Jeff.

Injuries to the lips or tongue

At home, you can clean injured skin surfaces with mild soapy water and a soft clean cloth. To clean cuts inside the mouth, rinse with salt water or a hydrogen peroxide solution (one part hydrogen peroxide and one part water). Be sure not to swallow this peroxide rinse. Do not be concerned if it foams, however, because the peroxide is reacting to the normal bacteria found in the mouth.

If your lip is swollen or bruised, apply a cold compress. If there is bleeding, apply pressure with a clean cloth for at least five minutes. To help limit swelling, bleeding and discomfort, wrap crushed ice in clean gauze or a clean piece of cloth, and hold it inside the cheek.

Certain injuries will require medical attention from an oral or maxillofacial surgeon. It is particularly important to have an experienced surgeon stitch cuts that cross the vermilion border — the line that forms the junction between the skin and the fleshy part of the lip. Experience is required to make sure this boundary looks right as it heals, because even a small irregularity will be permanently noticeable.

Small puncture wounds in the tongue usually heal without the need for any treatment other than cleansing with antiseptic or hydrogen peroxide rinses. Although large cuts may require stitches, they tend to be hard to keep in place for any length of time because the tongue is so mobile during talking and chewing.

Because the mouth is rich with bacteria, an antibiotic is often prescribed following a lip or tongue laceration to ward off infection.

When To Call A Medical Professional

• Bleeding cannot be controlled with pressure and a cold compress.
• A laceration crosses the border between the lip and facial skin.
• The lip is punctured.
• An infection develops after an injury. Signs include: redness, tenderness, fever and drainage of pus Signs will usually be evident approximately four days after the injury.