True dental emergencies are rare, but when you need immediate care, emergency dentistry can be a huge help in relieving pain and stabilizing your dental structure. Unfortunately, many people don’t know when or where to go or what qualifies as a dental emergency. This leads to enduring unnecessary pain, or spending money seeing professionals not able to treat the problem.
What Exactly is a Dental Emergency?
Certain problems are best seen by your regular dentist. These things include regular check ups and routine dental care, or for problems where your oral health is not in immediate danger. Dental emergencies include injuries that threaten the health of your teeth, gums, or jaw and need immediate attention. These injuries include things like:
- Teeth that have been knocked out
- Loosened or fractured teeth
- Broken jaw
- An abscess
- Tooth pain
Who Provides Emergency Dental Care?
Sometimes determining where to go is not as clear cut as it seems. In fact, every year over 800,000 Americans end up in the emergency room for their dental emergency. The important thing to know is only dentists can provide dental care, and in most states it’s illegal for medical doctors do things like pull a tooth. That’s why emergency rooms can’t do much beyond providing pain killers or antibiotics. While they might provide temporary relief, they’ll also provide you with a hefty bill, and you’ll still need to get the problem fixed.
And you can’t just call up any dentist for care. Emergency dental services are different than routine dental care, and not every dentist provides them so you’ll want to call before you go. Most dentists reserve places in their schedules for dental emergencies, but they may not provide after hours care. On the other hand, some dentists only provide emergency care. Either way, they have the skill and expertise to care for dental traumas.
It’s Not a Replacement for Regular Care
The main goal of emergency dentistry is to stabilize the injured tooth and surrounding tissue and to prevent further damage. Many times this will include providing temporary fixes that will make the patient comfortable and the tooth protected until they’re able to get to their regular dentist. Sometimes, it means performing the permanent repair. It’s never a replacement for regular care though, and getting in to the dentist twice a year can prevent many dental emergencies.
It’s important to seek dental care as soon as possible when you’re having problems. Ignoring or delaying care can lead to additional and permanent damage as well as the additional expense that comes with additional dental issues. Emergency dentistry can help save compromised teeth and save you a lot of unnecessary pain. Call Creative Dentistry & Medspa in Atlanta, GA in the case of a dental emergency.
Posted on behalf of Creative Dentistry & MedSpa