Emergency Dental Care What You Need to Know
Emergency dental care isn’t something many people give much thought. Just like a trip to the general emergency room, you usually can’t plan emergency dental care in advance. But if you find yourself in serious pain due to dental injury or a worsening dental condition, it’s important to seek emergency dental care immediately, before things get even worse.
Many people require emergency dental care due to a cracked, broken, or knocked out tooth. If you participate in contact sports, your risk for injuries like these is higher, but unfortunately they can happen to anyone. Maybe there was a stray bone in that chicken salad that you accidentally crunched down on, or maybe you tripped and fell, hitting your mouth on a hard counter or floor. Regardless, you may need to seek emergency dental care to protect your health.
Depending on how serious your injury is, and where the injured tooth is located, you may be able to wait and call your dentist during normal business hours to make an appointment. However, if your tooth is severely cracked or has nerve damage, a large piece is missing, or the tooth is completely knocked out, you definitely should not wait. Seek emergency dental care directly.
In the event of a knocked out tooth, you may require some cosmetic dentistry to restore your smile. There are many options when it comes to replacing a missing tooth, but only dental implants can provide the feel, function, and look of your original teeth. United States dentist offices are increasingly offering dental implant procedures, though only about 10% place implants at this time. Around 3 million people currently have dental implants, and that number is growing by half a million each year.
emergency dental care
You may also require emergency dental care for an abscessed tooth (often a wisdom tooth), which can cause severe pain. As an adult, wisdom teeth are the last teeth that appear (erupt). Most, but not all, people have two wisdom teeth on the top of their mouths, and two on the bottom. All four are located at the back of the mouth. Many adults have their wisdom teeth removed, because the mouth usually only has space for 28 teeth. Wisdom teeth removal is performed by an oral surgeon, and about 5 million Americans undergo this outpatient oral surgery every year.
Wisdom tooth extraction can be painful, but its often more painful to allow an abscessed wisdom tooth to remain in the mouth. If you leave an infection too long, you may require emergency dental care to remove the infected, painful tooth.
Whatever the cause, in the event of a dental emergency, don’t hesitate to seek the care you need.
