What is a Dental Emergency?
A dental emergency is no fun and can be a scary situation. But, just because you notice that something is astray, doesn’t always mean that a dental emergency is in the works.
Tooth pain, which, worldwide, affects 60–90% of school children and nearly 100% of adults, can range from dull to extensive and can have lots of different meanings. So, it can be hard to truly understand what warrants a normal visit to your family dentist and what requires emergency dental care.
Do you know what is actually considered a dental emergency? If not, we’re here to answer just that! Take a look below and see what types of circumstance may deserve a little extra attention.
Outside Normal Office Hours
Tooth pain is one thing, but if you find yourself with an actual chipped, broken, or missing tooth getting ahold of your dentist is probably your first priority. However, what if it’s the middle of the night, a weekend, or even a holiday? This is where the term dental emergency comes in.
If you find yourself needing assistance but not able to contact your normal dentist, emergency dentists are the way to go. They usually operate outside normal business hours and sometimes even weekends. Unfortunately, when it comes to holiday visits, a trip to the emergency room might actually be your best bet.
Severe Mouth Damage
This can differ depending on who you ask, but overall severe mouth damage relates to a break or fracture in the jaw, tooth loss, and other cases in which there is trauma to the mouth area.
Some may also consider a chipped tooth to be in this category, however unless there is significant nerve damage, a chipped tooth is mostly a cosmetic concern. Although, it still should result with a visit to your family dentist. Overall, the main question to consider is, “How does this affect my dental and overall health?” If you indeed are in severe pain, or are bleeding it is definitely a time to make a dental emergency visit.
Not every dental situation should be labeled an emergency. However, for the sake of your health it’s important to understand when an emergency has occurred. Take all of the above into consideration and decide what is best for you, whether that be a normal dentist check in, a call to your local emergency dentist, or even a trip to the ER. Oral injuries are serious, can have a major effect on other functions of our bodies, and occur more than 5 million times every year. Be sure to take care of them properly.
Are you in the need of emergency dental services? Contact Emergency Dental of St. Louis so we can help you be your old self again!