What Is Emergency Dental Care?
While most dental visits are routine, consisting of scheduled cleanings and check-ups, situations arise that may require emergency dental care. Regardless of whether these emergencies happen during business hours or on an evening or weekend, chances are that you may have to be seen by an emergency dentist. While some injuries involving the teeth may require immediate treatment in the Emergency Room and such concerns should be prioritized (i.e. head injuries sustained in an accident), injuries or problems limited to the teeth and soft tissues of the mouth can usually be best handled by a dentist.
What Requires Emergency Dental Care?
Emergency dental care is generally required when one sustains a serious injury or experiences an acute infection or problem with a tooth or soft oral tissues that requires immediate attention and treatment. In contrast to the beginnings of a sore tooth that may be experiencing the initial stages of decay or gums that are slightly achy, treatment that requires emergency care is typically characterized by high levels of pain, swelling, signs of serious infection, or visible breaks in teeth or damage to soft tissues. The vast majority of oral ailments can wait until business hours the next day; emergency dental care is usually triggered by an accident, traumatic injury, or an acute problem that is serious enough to require immediate care.
The difference between things that can wait for your dentist to evaluate in the next day or two versus something that requires emergency treatment after hours is much like the decision to put off medical care that can wait until the next day versus a serious injury (broken bone, cut requiring stitches, traumatic head injury, etc.) that must be seen in the Emergency Room immediately.
Possible treatments at an emergency dentist’s office include (but are not limited to):
- Repairing cracked or broken teeth
- Abscessed teeth
- Extracting infected or seriously damaged teeth
- Root canals
- Soft tissue lacerations (i.e. injuries to the tissues of the gums)
How Do I Find an Emergency Dentist?
If you have a dental problem that is serious enough to warrant a visit to an emergency dentist, the first number to call is your regular dentist’s office. Regardless of whether it happens during or after business hours, either a receptionist or an answering machine should be able to direct you to an emergency dental office in your area.
Because emergency dentists are not simply waiting in their offices for emergencies to happen, it is important that you call the phone number before simply driving to the office. This will alert the emergency dentist that there is a patient in need of help, allow them to start thinking about what kind of treatment you may require, and give them a head start to get to their office, and be ready for you when you arrive.
What Should I do While I Wait?
Pain can be treated with over-the-counter pain medications while you wait to be seen. Additionally, cold compresses can help reduce or inhibit any further swelling if that is a concern. Above all, seek the care that you need and follow all instructions for care before and after your appointment, and be sure to follow up with your regular dentist as soon as you can.