What is Emergency Dental Care?
Unfortunately, dental emergencies cannot be planned and tend to strike when least expected. Due to the nature of these types of emergencies, which are not life-and-death, it is challenging to discern whether you need urgent medical care.
People often make the mistake of ignoring these types of issues, especially if treatment is expensive or if the individual has dental phobia. However, avoiding your dental practitioner when these situations occur is the worst thing you can do because ignoring the issue may aggravate the symptoms and worsen your existing condition.
Because dental emergencies are unpredictable, you must find an emergency dentist in Beaconsfield to prepare for worst-case scenarios.
You may have lost a couple of teeth playing sports or started experiencing a blinding toothache out-of-the-blue. In these instances, it is your responsibility to preserve your dental health by picking up the phone to your trusted oral health practitioner who will advise you on what to do next.
What is regarded as severe mouth trauma, injury, or disease?
Having your tooth knocked out is dangerous because if it is not repositioned in your mouth quickly, you run the risk of losing your pearly white altogether.
A fractured or broken tooth is typically accompanied by overwhelming pain and discomfort, so it’s essential that you seek out dental care, even if it is just to relieve the pain temporarily.
Pain that is different from an ordinary toothache, a sensation that leaves you incapacitated and unable to perform your daily tasks, should be regarded as severe. It could point to any number of things for example, infected pulp, and may require surgical procedures like a tooth extraction or a root canal.
While chipped teeth, if not accompanied by pain, can wait until your local dental practitioner can book you in for an appointment.
What should I do under these circumstances?
There are several things you can do before seeing your dental practitioner.
If you have lost a tooth, you should clean the tooth in milk – this solution also helps to keep the roots of your pearly whites moist, which is essential. You can then place the tooth back in the socket, making sure to hold the tooth by the crown and not by the root.
If you have suffered a mouth trauma and there is bleeding, find something to absorb the blood. If you do not have a medical aid kit, tea bags are highly absorbent. Press a cold compress on the mouth if there is facial swelling.
What should I do if the incident occurs after-hours?
As mentioned, accidents are not planned and may occur at inopportune moments, for example, outside of working hours.
In today’s world, however, many dental practitioners are aware of this and may be able to accommodate you. Whatever the hour, call your local dentist – their hotline may instruct you on how to handle an emergency or direct you to the nearest hospital.
Are you a candidate for emergency dental care? We trust this post cleared up what qualifies as emergency dental care.