What Are Examples of Dental Emergencies?
Dental emergencies occur despite your best efforts at unexpected hours. The crisis can be worrisome and raise questions about whether you need help from the emergency dentist located nearby or whether your situation can wait until you can see your regular dental care provider.
Most people are unsure whether they should wait to see their regular dentist or should call any dental professional regardless of the time. This article looks at some dental emergency situations requiring prompt attention from emergency dentists instead of delaying treatment to see your regular dental healthcare provider.
What Are Dental Emergencies?
A dental emergency is any dental problem that needs addressing without delay.
Examples Of a Dental Emergency
A Knocked out Tooth
A tooth knocked out when playing sports or in accidents is an emergency that needs attention at the earliest from any dental professional. Unfortunately, if you managed to become involved in the accident late in the evening, you might not have any alternative but to visit the emergency dental clinic to save your tooth.
Before contacting the clinic nearby, ensure that you pick up the knocked-out tooth holding it by the Crown and not its roots. If the tooth is dirty, rinse it in water and try placing it back in the socket. If you fail in your attempt, place the tooth in a milk container and head to the clinic to get there within 30 minutes. Time is of the essence when dealing with a knocked-out because any delay in receiving the treatment needed will require you to search for replacement solutions at high prices.
If you get to the clinic within the timeline, the dentist at the practice splints the tooth to the adjacent teeth after placing it into its socket. The roots will reattach to your jawbone in a couple of months, requiring you to care for it appropriately to ensure you recover, as suggested by the dentist.
A Dental Abscess
A dental abscess is a bacterial infection resulting from deep decay in a specific tooth. You experience severe pain, swelling and discoloration near the tooth’s root below the gum line.
Dental abscesses are life-threatening because the infection can spread from your tooth to the neighbouring teeth and your jawbone besides your bloodstream to cause complications in your entire body.
When you contact the emergency dentist in Hamilton, ON, the professional will drain the abscess and provide antibiotics and painkillers to control the infection and discomfort. They also recommend undergoing root canal treatment to eradicate the infection from the specific tooth or to have the tooth extracted.
Some other examples of emergencies involving your dental cavity toothaches that don’t subside, uncontrolled bleeding, painful swelling, loose permanent teeth and jaw injuries. If you confront any such situations, call the emergency dentist near you to treat the issue right away.
Not every dental situation is an emergency, and some merely need urgent care from a dental professional or your regular dentist. Some examples of non-urgent emergencies include cracked Crown or bridges, broken retainer or night guard, lost Crown or filling, mild toothaches, or any food trapped between your teeth.
Nonemergency situations also need attention from a dentist necessitating a call to your dentist to make an appointment as soon as possible. However, if the problem occurs during weekends or beyond working hours, you can wait until the next available appointment to see your dental care provider. However, you mustn’t ignore nonemergency situations because they can aggravate into a severe emergency unless they are treated promptly.
Is It Possible to Prevent a Dental Emergency?
When you confront a dental emergency, the situation makes you determined to do everything possible to prevent such emergencies later. In such cases, it helps if you follow preventive dentistry practices because they assist you in avoiding dental complications when least expected.
If you maintain regular visits to your dentist, the professional can detect potential issues in your mouth to recommend a personalized dental care plan that helps prevent critical situations needing help from an emergency dentist. Unfortunately, stopping all dental problems is practically impossible. However, if you follow your dentist’s advice and adopt preventive measures to safeguard your teeth and gums, you can conveniently minimize dental situations that might require emergency treatment.
Jackson Square Dental Center provides emergency dental care throughout the week and even on weekends functioning from 9 AM until 7 PM. If you confront any dental problem, please do not hesitate to contact this practice to receive the treatment needed from experienced dentists.