Why Choose Newton Corner Dental for Emergency Dental Care?
-
Same-Day Appointments Available
-
Highly Skilled Team with Years of Experience
-
Patient Comfort Always Comes First
What to Do in a Dental Emergency
-
Contact us right away.
Time is of the essence in any emergency situation, which is why you need to contact us right away. The sooner you get to our office, the better chance we have of saving your smile.
-
Have an emergency exam.
When you get to our office, we’ll conduct a detailed oral examination to identify the cause of your emergency. Using our findings, we’ll create a custom treatment plan to get your oral health back on the right track.
-
Get the care you need.
We might be able to temporarily address your emergency during your appointment. However, you will likely have to return for additional services like fillings, root canal therapy, gum disease treatment, or extraction.
The Most Common Dental Emergencies
Immediately after a dental emergency has occurred, the very first thing you should do is contact our dental office. Explain your situation, and we’ll let you know whether or not you need to come see us immediately. We can also walk you through some first-aid tips over the phone. While it’s important that you come to see us quickly, below are a few steps you can take on your own to provide some temporary relief.
Dental Emergency FAQs
Even under perfectly ideal circumstances, dealing with a dental emergency is no one’s idea of a good time. You have to stop everything you’re doing to travel to the office of your emergency dentist as soon as you can. Additionally, most people have no idea what to do when they’re suddenly faced with a dental emergency. To help you out, we’ve compiled and answered this list of frequently asked questions about emergency dentistry.
How Do I Know If I Have a Dental Emergency?
There are many different kinds of dental problems, from a mild toothache to a completely dislodged tooth, so it can be hard to tell which ones warrant giving us a call. As a rule of thumb, the most common signs that you need emergency care are intense pain, bleeding from the mouth, and teeth that are broken, loose, or missing altogether. Even if you’re unsure that what you’re going through counts as a dental emergency, it’s best to be on the safe side and call us anyway. Ignoring and putting off treatment for even a small dental issue can cause the problem to worsen in the future.
What If My Toothache Goes Away on Its Own?
If your tooth pain subsides, you might at first be relieved. You may be under the impression that if your toothache fades away by itself, the tooth has healed. Unfortunately, if your toothache was due to an infection, it usually means the exact opposite. Typically, when a toothache goes away on its own, it means that the infection has spread to the nerve in the center of the tooth, effectively “killing” the tooth. The brain no longer receives pain signals from the tooth, which is why you don’t feel any discomfort. At this point, your tooth may need to be extracted, unless we can save it with root canal therapy.
Are Sensitive Teeth Considered a Dental Emergency?
In the short term, tooth sensitivity is typically not treated as a dental emergency. However, if your sensitivity is confined to a single tooth or area of your mouth, that is a different matter. It could be a sign that your tooth or gums are infected. In this case, it’s better to err on the side of caution and give us a call. Sometimes all you need is a prescription of desensitizing toothpaste or antibiotics, but in other cases, you might require a root canal or gum disease therapy.
Should I Go to the Emergency Room?
When you’re dealing with a dental emergency, your first instinct might be to call your local hospital. However, this should only be done as a last resort, such as if we are closed and you have knocked out a tooth. Some oral health problems are best treated in the emergency room, such as a broken jaw, profuse bleeding, or extreme swelling of the mouth or throat.
For the majority of other dental emergencies, though, you’re much better off calling our office. Most emergency rooms don’t have a dentist on staff, so they’re not equipped to deal with urgent oral health issues like we are. At best, ER doctors may be able to prescribe antibiotics or pain medication, but they typically can’t address the root of the problem in the way that we can.
