Ouch! If You Have Tooth Pain Call an Emergency Dentist

You never know when you will need an emergency dentist. A dental emergency, as with any health emergency can strike at any time and without warning. For some people, they will feel a moderate level of pain that all of a sudden escalates into unbearable tooth pain. For others, they need an emergency dentist after being in an accident. Regardless of when or why you need a dentist, we are available to help.

Two common reasons for needing an emergency dentist are injuring a tooth while playing sports or getting into an accident. According to the American Dental Association, the majority of adult tooth injuries are due to playing sports. Most adults don't have the time to play in an organized league so the likelihood of your tooth getting injured during a neighborhood game of basketball is actually fairly high. You can reduce your risk by keeping your teeth healthy in the first place or wearing a mouth guard while you play.

If your tooth was injured in a car accident or on the job, there typically isn't much you can do to prevent it. Scheduling regular dental exams and teeth cleanings will help your teeth to be healthy enough to withstand damage but there is no guarantee that your tooth won't become cracked, chipped, or even fall out during an accident. If this happens to you after business hours or on the weekend, you need to call a 24-hour dentist.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that the emergency room staff can treat tooth injuries. They can't and don't because they are trained in how to treat the rest of your body, but not in how to treat your teeth. This is why you need to visit a doctor of dentistry, not just a medical doctor. In fact, if you go to the ER, they will direct you to an emergency dentist instead.As a 24-hour dentist, you can call us at any time day or night.

We can provide the immediate relief you need when the pain becomes unbearable or restore your tooth after an accident. If your tooth has fallen out it is extremely important to see a dentist right away because we may be able to save it. Waiting until the morning is not an option when you are trying to do so. Instead, find your tooth, rinse it off and put it into a glass of milk. Once you get to our office, we will see if the tooth can be saved. If not, we will make other recommendations for replacing it such as installing a dental bridge or dental implants.

Likewise, if your tooth is in major pain, you can call our dentist office. We will examine your mouth and determine the reason you are experiencing pain before making treatment recommendations. By restoring your damaged tooth or treating an infection, we can correct your dental problems and help you to feel better in no time.

Tooth Extraction  >  Cosmetic Dentist

Call Us if You Need an Emergency Dentist

As an emergency dentist, we understand that it is impossible to control when you will have a dental emergency.  Even those who are fastidious about oral health can still end up in a car wreck, hurt while playing sports, slip and fall down, etc., all of which can lead to a damaged tooth and dental emergency.  In fact, according to the National Fall Safety Institute slip and falls account for 9 million trips to the emergency room every year.  With that in mind, you truly never know when you may need emergency dentist care.  Fortunately, we are here when you do.  Regardless of how you hurt yourself or how damaged your teeth are, give us a call.  If we do not answer, we will get back to you right away so that you can receive the dental care that you need.

Solutions Offered by an Emergency Dentist

As an emergency dentist, we offer extended hours that are far beyond what you can find with a traditional dentist.  Many local dentists restrict their hours of operation to Monday through Thursday from 9 am to 5 pm.  While this works for many people, it can make it difficult for those with busy work schedules or a dental emergency to get the care that they need.  As a result, many people seek dental care from the emergency room of a local hospital.  This is unwise because general physicians are not trained in how to diagnose or treat dental problems.  They can triage the problem and provide medication, but that's it.  This leads to repeat visits because the health issue is never actually addressed.  When you visit our dental office, your experience will be entirely different.  Even though we are available 24 hours a day, we still provide the same comprehensive dental care that you can receive during normal business hours.  This means that we can examine your teeth, take x-rays, diagnose the problem and provide you with immediate care.  If you have damaged your tooth, we may restore it with a bonding procedure, dental veneers, or dental crowns.  If you have lost a tooth, we can try to save it or provide you with a denture, dental bridge, or dental implant as a replacement solution.  Finally, if your tooth is infected, we can typically save it by performing a root canal.

When you visit our dental office, you can be confident knowing that you will receive the highest quality of dental care from a team of experts.  We are equipped to handle whatever your dental needs may be.

Tips for Staying Healthy

If you want to decrease the chance that you will ever need an emergency dentist, it is important to take care of your teeth and gums. While you cannot prevent most accidents, if you play sports you can decrease your risk for getting injured.  We recommend that you wear a mouthguard while playing or practicing sports so that your teeth will not be damaged if hit.  Simultaneously, if you receive ongoing dental care, the chance of you developing a sudden toothache will also be reduced.

Best Dentist  >  Family Dentist

We Are Here if You Need an Emergency Dentist This Summer

An emergency dentist and the summer - what could those two things possibly have in common? Much more than you might think. Summer is a time of fun, family, and frolicking in the great weather. All over the country people are planning their vacations, packing, and finding their way to their favorite holiday spots. 88% of the country will go on vacation this summer. For those that are still home, there is a ton of activities happening that do not happen during the other seasons. Pool parties, barbecues, and outdoor sporting activities for the whole family.

Why would anyone need an emergency dentist in this scenario? Accidents mostly.  Summer is a time when we see a large uptick in the number of people who come in to see us. In fact, 1 in every 6 people enjoying the perfect vacation weather will have an accident that requires them to see an emergency dentist.

If you think about all of the potentials for damaging your teeth that are exacerbated during summer, it makes sense. Pools have slippery edges that people walk around on while tracking water to other locations. This increases the risk for slip and fall accidents. All the barbecuing can lead to biting down on a bone too hard, or even misadventures with a volleyball can lead you to an emergency dentist visit. The good news is that we are here, and your accident does not have to spell the end of a good season.

For us, as an emergency dentist, the first rule, and pretty much the only rule we have for you is to be able to contact us immediately in the event of an emergency. If you do not know who your emergency dentist is you will spend precious minutes looking for a solution. Even if you have a dentist, and this provider does not work nights and weekends, you will need a different doctor. When dealing with a dental emergency, the key word is 'emergency'. If you knock out a tooth, for example, you have a limited time in which to bring the tooth into our office so that we can reattach it. To help keep the tooth alive you can do one of two things. First, you can place the tooth back in the socket and hold it there with some pressure. This is the best option, and if you can do this within the first 5 minutes of the tooth coming out, you have a good chances of saving the tooth. If you are too uncomfortable to replace the tooth in the socket, you can place it into a container with cold milk. Since milk has the same osmotic pressure as what the tooth is used to, it helps to preserve the tooth for longer.

Ultimately you need to remember that immediate medical attention is the best way to save your tooth. In many cases, we can reattach the tooth, make sure that you do not get an infection and give you the proper care you need so that you can go back to your summer fun.

Why You Should Call an Emergency Dentist Instead of Visiting the ER

If an emergency dentist is not one of the first people on your contact sheet, you are not alone. Simultaneously if you have had a toothache that will not go away and have had to rush in and see a dentist, either for you or for a loved one, you know that some of the worst pain a person can experience can stem from the teeth. We know, that as an emergency dentist, we know that it is a good idea for you to add our phone number to your contact list so that if an emergency situation happens, you have someone that you can call. The sad fact is that many people do not plan for emergency situations, even less so when it comes to teeth. Since teeth are so good at performing their work, without causing major angst, people tend to ignore them. Over 40% of American’s will not even visit the dentist regularly to keep their teeth in good health. What this does is it leaves you in a spot where you may not know where to turn if you do find yourself in incredible tooth pain. Taking the precaution of having the contact number for our office is a small but important step in reducing your potential for discomfort.

Skip the ER -

You won’t find an emergency dentist in the emergency room of your local hospital. Emergency dentists are trained as dentist, and we have simply decided that the needs of our patients extend beyond regular business hours. Unfortunately, there are a growing number of people who do not have an emergency dentist, since their regular dentist does not provide these services, are finding their way to the emergency room to get treatment for their oral and dental issues. A recent study of the data from 24 states, and encompassing 3 years, found that there has been a steady increase in the number of people visiting the emergency room for dental needs. The total increase over these three years was found to be 16%. There is nothing wrong with seeking aid from an emergency room physician if you are in dire condition and have no other options. However, we are trained and equipped to deal with dental issues, whereas the skilled physicians at the emergency room are not. As such, the physicians in the emergency room can treat the symptoms you are experiencing but cannot address the root cause, which means that you will need to see a dentist after your ER visit anyway.

The most common, and often the most complex, reasons why people seek out the care of an emergency dentist is a toothache. Among the most debilitating of pains, a toothache is one of the fastest reasons to send you scurrying off for medical attention. It can also be a symptom of a much larger and deeper problem. Toothaches can occur because of infections, gum diseases, or damage to the teeth.  As an emergency dentist, we can treat you immediately and ensure that you do not continue to experience discomfort.  With that in mind, you should visit us immediately instead of heading to the ER.

An Emergency Dentist Can Help With Your Broken Jaw

A broken jaw means a trip the emergency dentist. Like with many fractures, a broken jaw can occur for a number or reasons and is extremely painful. It will also require emergency medical assistance that can be offered by a dentist or at a hospital emergency room. Jawbone fractures, or a broken jaw is the third most common type of fracture after fractures of the nose and the cheekbone. Identifying a broken jaw and realizing that you need to be seen by a dentist, is relatively easy. 

You need to visit our office if you have any of the following symptoms:

•    Severe pain in the joint along your jawbone
•    Inability to open your mouth widely
•    Bruising, swelling, and tenderness along the jaw and under your ear
•    Your jaw being improperly aligned and feeling off
•    Missing teeth or loosened teeth
•    Bleeding from the area of the incident

There are quite a number of ways that a person’s jaw can get fractured. Called the mandible, the jaw bone is often likely to fracture in more than one place. The direct fracture occurs where the jaw made contact with whatever broke it, and a second fracture occurs somewhere else along the jaw. The second fracture will often be close to the joint at the end of the jawbone. There are several ways you can break your jaw:

•    Falling due to an accident. This occurs more commonly with children and also in adults, especially older adults, who can faint.
•    Slamming into the dashboard of a vehicle due to a collision. This can occur even when the airbag deploys if the collision is severe.
•    Falling off a moving vehicle or ride. Any collision to the jaw from a moving vehicle can result in a trip to the emergency dentist with a broken jaw.
•    Contact sports are also responsible for many jaw breaks. An impact collision during the sport or a fall can result in a broken mandible.
•    Getting hit or punched in the jaw can also result in a break.
Once you realize that you may have a broken jaw, as a result of any one of these occurrences, you should contact an emergency dentist immediately. Prolonged time between the incident and getting treatment can further damage the jaw or cause unnecessary complications in the treatment options.
While you are waiting to be seen by an emergency dentist, there are a few steps you should take.
•    Apply a cold compress to the jaw using ice or frozen vegetables. This will help reduce the swelling and will also help with localized pain. Use light pressure so as to avoid more pain and damage to the bone.
•    Create a support to stabilize the jaw. You can easily do this by using a towel. Wrap the towel under the jaw and fasten it, by tying, on your head. This will hold the jawbone in place while waiting for treatment.
•    You can take an over the counter pain medication, just be sure to note what time you take it and the dosage so that you can give that information to us, in our emergency dentist office. 

If you have any type of dental emergency, we can help.  Call to schedule an appointment.

It’s Time for Football and Perhaps an Emergency Dentist?

With the arrival of fall sports, an emergency dentist is busier than ever. Most people don’t realize how dangerous playing sports can be for your teeth.  Even a recreational game of football or pickup game of basketball can end with a broken tooth and need for help right away.  According to the American Dental Association, sports injuries are one of the highest, if not the highest, cause of tooth injuries within the U.S.  Additionally, sports injuries lead to 13 to 39 percent of adult tooth loss on an annual basis.  This is a huge percentage when you consider how few adults play organized sports. Even a casual game can lead to an injury.

There are ways to protect your teeth this fall and throughout your lifetime.  Begin by keeping your teeth healthy.  When teeth and gums are free from infection and gum disease, they are stronger than teeth that are infected.  When you think of your teeth, consider a pond that has been frozen over after months of cold winter.  When the ice is solid, it is safe to skate on that pond and hours of fun can be had by children throughout the neighborhood.  When that same pond has a tiny crack, simply walking on it can lead to the ice shattering and someone falling into the icy cold water.  Teeth are similar in that when they are strong and infection free, they won’t break when used or even bumped into.  If, however, there is a small crack or cavity, that same tooth can experience major damage if hit while playing sports.

In order to avoid needing to take a trip to the emergency dentist, we recommend that our patients have their teeth cleaned twice a year so that we can remove bacteria and plaque in order to prevent cavities and gum disease.  If we notice any signs of infection, it can be treated right away so that your teeth can stay strong and healthy.  This preventative step is critical for maintaining strong teeth.

If, however, your tooth does become damaged – we offer restorative solutions that can repair your tooth so that you can eat and speak like normal, without pain.  If, for example, your tooth has been cracked we can use a dental veneer or dental crown to restore it.  A veneer is a thin shell that is placed on top of your existing tooth and good for small cracks or chips.  A crown is a cap that surrounds the tooth and a better option for a tooth with a major crack or one that has lost a significant amount of enamel.  We can also help if your tooth has fallen out.  We offer both dental bridges and dental implants as a way to replace a missing tooth.

Regardless of how your teeth have been damaged, as an emergency dentist we can repair your tooth and help you to get back to life and back in the game as quickly as possible.  If you need help – give us a call, even if it’s on the weekend.