We’re just days away from Halloween, so our team at Hawkins Complete Dental Service wants to make sure your family trick-or-treat night is fun and safe!

Halloween Dental Emergencies: Expect The Unexpected!

Everyone understands that you kind of have to expect the unexpected in life. As careful and cautious as parents are, especially during times like Halloween trick-or-treating, you could still find yourself face to face with a dental emergency.

Here are some common reasons for that:

*Someone Loses A Tooth*

If you’re in a neighborhood that doesn’t have well-lit sidewalks and streets, you’re just asking for trouble!

With bulky costumes, face masks, and the darkness of night, you’re at a higher risk for tripping or bumping into someone or something that can result in a knocked out tooth.

*Someone Breaks A Tooth*

Breaking a tooth on a hard piece of candy or by falling down face first into a concrete sidewalk or curb is a pretty common dental emergency this time of year. The little ones get really excited about trick-or-treating, so they might get ahead of themselves and injure a tooth in the process.

No matter what happens, you can trust our team at Hawkins Complete Dental Service to help you find the care you need. Our patients in Zanesville, OH can call us for emergency appointments, and we’ll help you as soon as we possibly can!

What To Do Before & During A Dental Emergency

Here are some tips for handling a Halloween dental emergency with the right tools and a cool head!

*Plan Ahead With A Dental Emergency Kit*

Keeping a dental emergency kit on hand is a great way to reduce panic and to care for a dental injury until you’re able to reach a dentist office.

This can be thrown together very easily before trick-or-treating. Using an empty container with a lid, you can include items like:

*Gauze pads

*Rubber or plastic gloves

*A small sealable container

*A dry washcloth

*Non-aspirin pain reliever

*A dental mirror

*Dental adhesive

Put items in your kit that will make it easier to specifically care for an injury to the mouth or teeth until you can get to the dentist for an emergency appointment.

*Lay Down The Ground Rules*

Sit down as a family before trick-or-treating to lay down some ground rules for general safety. This will take much of the potential drama out of the evening by making your expectations clear ahead of time.

You might talk about staying together or how they shouldn’t run ahead of you and your spouse or other siblings. That way, you can minimize the risk of them getting lost or tripping and falling.

Also, bring along a flashlight to help light their path so they don’t trip and fall on a dark curb or porch step.

*Go Through The Candy Together*

Before the kids dump their candy out onto the kitchen table and start tearing into it piece by piece, sit down with them and go through it all together.

That way, you can inspect their candy for anything that looks suspicious or for pieces that are hard or sticky so you can cast those aside to reduce the risk for tooth decay or damage.

Call When You Need Us!

Now, all this being said, everyone knows that you can practice all the caution in the world and still be faced with a medical or dental emergency.

But at least you know what steps to take before and during one to minimize the risk or the damage to anyone’s smile in your family this Halloween.

If you need an emergency dental appointment in Zanesville, OH, know that you can count on Dr. Hawkins at Hawkins Complete Dental Service!

Call 740-214-1301 when you need us or, to request a non-emergency appointment, feel free to fill out our convenient online form.