What Is A Dental Emergency?
You might be having your evening run when you fall and knock out your tooth, or maybe you were enjoying bone meat only to break your tooth in half. Regardless of the cause of your dental problems, urgent medical care is often necessary to alleviate your symptoms and treat your condition.
Generally, a dental emergency is any oral condition that causes sudden and severe symptoms like persistent or worsening bleeding, severe tooth pain, or sudden tooth loss. Having an emergency dentist ensures that you receive immediate and reliable medical care in dental emergencies. If you don’t have an emergency dentist, you can always call your general dentist or visit an ER or urgent care facility near you.
What do emergency dentists do?
An emergency dentist specializes in treating and managing severe and potentially life-threatening dental injuries or conditions. An emergency dentist is like your general dentist. The only difference is that they are often available 24/7 and deal with dental problems that require immediate treatment.
An emergency dentist can offer various treatments and services to:
- Alleviate pain: Severe and unbearable tooth pain is a common reason for seeking emergency dental care. One of the primary services of an emergency dentist is to stop or keep your pain under control.
- Tooth and soft tissue damage repair: If your teeth, gums, or mouth has sustained significant damage that can’t wait for later treatment, the emergency dentist will repair the damage. For instance, you can save a knocked-out with immediate treatment.
- Control bleeding: An emergency dentist can help stop uncontrollable bleeding due to gum disease, oral injuries, or post-treatment complications.
- Repair dental restorations: While dental restorations like fillings or crowns are durable and strong, they can fall off or get damaged. It can cause significant symptoms like pain, swelling, or injuries to oral tissues. An emergency dentist can help reset or replace the restoration.
What is considered a dental emergency?
Below are common types of dental emergencies:
- Severe toothache
A toothache can range from mild to severe. While mild to moderate tooth pain can wait until you leave school or the dental office opens in the morning, see an emergency dentist near you if you experience sudden, severe, throbbing, or unbearable tooth pain. Tooth pain should be serious if it affects your ability to sleep or perform basic activities. Immediate attention is needed to alleviate your symptoms and treat the underlying cause.
- Severe tooth damage
If you have broken your tooth in half or multiple fractures, it can cause extreme pain, swelling, or bleeding. If this is the case, seeking immediate care is essential to repair the teeth damage and stop pain, bleeding, and swelling. Prompt treatment also prevents additional damage or injuries to the tooth and other oral structures.
- Knocked-out or partially dislodged tooth
Sports and car accidents are the key causes of teeth knock-out or partially dislodged teeth. If your tooth is almost or has already fallen off your mouth, seeing an emergency dentist quickly, probably within an hour, can help save the tooth. If you have a knocked-out tooth, try to place it in the socket or preserve it in a glass of milk.
- Dental abscess
A dental abscess is a pus-filled pimple-like infection that develops around a tooth root or spaces between teeth and gums. An abscess often indicates the infection is spreading and can cause significant pain and swelling on the nearby structures. If left untreated, the infection can even spread to other body parts. A dental abscess can also lead to fever and bad breath.
- Lost or broken dental restoration
Old age or dental injuries can cause dental restorations like crowns or fillings can break or fall out. It’s vital to see a dentist as soon as possible to repair and replace the restoration. Seeing a dentist near you can also help alleviate pain and other symptoms.
- Severe soft tissue injury
Severe injuries can lead to extreme pain, swelling, and excessive bleeding. An emergency dentist can help treat the wounds and stop pain, swelling, and bleeding.
Are you looking for an emergency dentist in Mississauga?
Do you have severe or life-threatening dental symptoms? Contact Dr. Jeff Levman & Dr. Ilana Wurman for immediate dental care near you.