If you have a dental emergency, please call us now at (916) 395-1900. We are located in the Sacramento, Pocket, Land Park, and Florin area.
Patients will go to the emergency room in order to address most major unexpected medical problems. However, when those issues specifically involve their teeth, they will need to go to emergency dental offices instead. Lots of emergency room physicians are just not familiar with most dental health problems. Dentists and physicians have different specialties, even though they are both medical professionals.
Many patients tend to focus on the dental procedures that address long-term and chronic dental problems. However, there are plenty of situations where an emergency dentist will be needed.
People who are experiencing very severe tooth or gum pain should probably seek out the services of an emergency dentist. If the pain is only mild, it is still a good idea to go to a dentist at some point, but mild pain does not typically signify an immediate threat. The line between moderate pain and severe pain might be subjective, but people are still usually good at separating the two for themselves.
A person who gets a tooth knocked out needs to see an emergency dentist. It might still be possible to get the tooth back into place after something like that happens. Timing is everything in those situations. The people who go to the dentist immediately after something like that happens have a relatively good chance of saving the tooth. If nothing else, they will give a dentist more to work with when it comes to genuinely addressing the emergency.
Losing even one tooth is cause for a trip to the emergency dentist. If it’s more than one, it’s even more important to get there as quickly as possible. People who lose multiple teeth can threaten the structure of their gums and jaws in the process. Toothlessness is a very real medical problem, and it’s something that needs to be addressed at the early stages.
People who are bleeding excessively from the mouth should go to either the emergency room or to an emergency dentist. If it’s severe gushing blood, it might be best to go to the emergency room. Bleeding like that can cause death quickly. However, even if the rate of blood loss is less severe than that, an emergency dentist might be the professional to call.
Calling and Emergency Dentist
Addressing any medical emergency is stressful. People might still end up sitting and waiting to be seen when that happens. Being in a waiting room is not a fun experience for many people. It’s even worse when there’s an emergency situation involved.
It should be noted that emergency dental offices tend to be less crowded than emergency rooms. People won’t have to wait as long to be seen, at least in most cases. The people who are in severe dental pain will be able to get all of that addressed within a relatively brief time frame.
Still, these offices don’t have a lot of staff members, at least compared to hospitals. People will typically go to standard dental offices for the sake of emergency dental care. There might be some hospitals with an emergency dentist on staff. However, it’s usually the dental offices themselves that do that.
Once patients are seen by the emergency dentist, things will run more smoothly. The dentist will work quickly to address the problem. Patients will often get some pain relief right away. The crisis will get resolved, and the dental professionals will help the patient explore other options, if applicable.
Dental Emergencies Can Occur At Any Time
People can usually prepare for their dental appointments, at least to a certain extent. Obviously, going to an emergency dentist is completely different. People can only do so much to prepare for an appointment like that, since they should be trying to get to the dentist as quickly as possible. However, even then, it is possible for patients to do what they can in order to make the appointment with the emergency dentist run more smoothly and effectively.
For one thing, patients should try to put their tooth fragments in warm water in order to preserve them, if applicable. If they can bring those tooth fragments to the emergency dental office like that, it might be easier for the dentist to save the full tooth. People shouldn’t assume that any tooth is completely beyond repair. The damage might not be as bad as they think, especially since dentists and patients will vary in terms of their perceptions of dental problems.
People should avoid trying to clean their lost teeth. It’s best to make sure that the tooth’s anatomy is not damaged, or that it’s damaged as little as possible. Trying to get the tooth to the emergency dental office without any issues might be tough, depending on the location of the office. However, it’s still a good idea to try to make things easier for everyone involved.
Pain management is an important part of emergency dentistry. Some people might find that rinsing out their mouths with warm water will help when they’re getting ready to go to the emergency dental office. Using an ice pack in order to reduce the pain can also make a difference, at least in the meantime.
Patients also need to make sure that a given dental office offers twenty-four-hour emergency dental care. Some of them do, but many of them do not, and every second counts in situations like this. Most dentists will tell people about this online, however, so it’s fairly easy to check in modern times.
The Need for Emergency Dental Care
An emergency dental appointment can save a person’s life. If nothing else, it can help people save their teeth and maintain their long-term dental health. People who go to emergency dental offices are often in terrible pain initially, given the sensitivity of the gums and teeth. Emergency dental care can help people get through some truly terrible health disasters.