Emergency Dentist – Understanding A 24-Hour Dentist Better

Before
proceeding further let us know who is an emergency dentist.

Who
is an Emergency Dentist – Meaning and definition

An
emergency dentist is a dentist that specializes in providing emergency dental
care. He is well equipped to handle dental issues that are urgent in nature.
They are able to diagnose such emergencies and devise a treatment plan in a
very small time to handle the situation better.

This
benefit is not available with a general dentist where you have to comply with
their schedule to get treated.

Difference
between an emergency dentist and a general dentist

You
might be intrigued with questions like why I should go to an emergency dentist
and not a general dentist. Is there a difference between these two? Here we
differentiate between an emergency dentist and a general dentist.

Availability

Availability
is the factor that makes a big difference between an emergency dentist and a
general dentist.

A
general dentist caters to the patient on certain days of a week for a certain
number of hours at a certain office.  The
patient has to make arrangements to remain available on that date, time and
place.

On
the contrary, an emergency dentist doesn’t have such restrictions. You can
visit them on any day and any time at their office. They remain available on
call as well. Due to their availability, they are also called walk-in dentists
or 24 hours dentists.

Special
training for trauma

People
don’t search for emergency dentists near me for no reason. They search for them
because they have met with an accident, or they are suffering from unbearable
pain. Emergency dentists are trained in handling emotional and physical trauma.
They know how to stabilize patients and further treat them to make them normal.

Wide
scope of dental treatments offered

When
it comes to the scope of treatment, emergency dentists have an edge over
general dentists. A general dentist offers basic dental solutions, an emergency
dentist is well equipped with handling teeth damaged due to trauma.

An
emergency dentist knows about suturing open wounds on the gums. Such a dentist
completely assesses your situation and takes a call on whether the help of an
oral surgeon is needed. His office is full of equipment required to handle
dental emergencies.

An
emergency dentist works along a family dentist

Most
of us have a family dentist that looks after our overall oral health issues.
There are times when your family dentist is not able to handle a situation
caused due to trauma. In such a case, your emergency dentist may coordinate
with your general dentist. With such coordination, you can get better treatment
without visiting often to an emergency dentist.

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What
does an emergency dentist do?

An
emergency dentist offers an array of services to ensure good oral health. These
services are as follows.

• Fixing
  knocked-out teeth
• Handling
  cracked teeth
• Providing
  dental abscess
• Fixing
  a lost crown or feeling
• Handling
  unexplained pain
• Treating
  swollen or bleeding gum
• Treating
  swollen jaw or mouth
• Emergency
  tooth extraction
• Managing
  wisdom tooth pain
• Treating
  fractured jaw

When
should you see an emergency dentist?

Oral
health issues keep surfacing from time to time. While some issues can be
tackled by booking an appointment with a general dentist, for some others
intervention from an emergency dentist is needed. Here we list the condition
when you should visit an emergency dentist.

You
have an unbearable toothache

Pain
in teeth hurts and it hurts badly. While normal toothache can be dealt by
visiting a general dentist, a severe toothache requires emergency care. It
needs a dentist who is experienced in handling such issue and have all the
required facilities at their dental office.

You
have a misfit filling

Sometimes
you have a misfit filling or your dental filling has come out.  Many people ignore it but you shouldn’t.
Fillings play an important part in protecting teeth. And lack of it may put a
risk to the safety of your teeth. In such a situation, you need to visit an
emergency dentist.

You
have an infection

Infection
in teeth leads to unbearable pain and you have no option but to rush to an
emergency dentist. If left untreated an infection can get more complex.
infection in teeth at an earlier stage can be managed by performing a root
canal therapy (RCT) while infections of advanced stages require a dentist to
remove teeth.

You
are bleeding from the mouth or gums

If
you have noticed bleeding from the mouth or gums while brushing or flossing,
then it is the right time you should visit an emergency dentist without further
delay.

You
have swollen mouth or jaw

If
you have to swell in your gums and jaws then you need to visit an emergency
dentist very soon. This condition can be left untreated as it may worsen. An
emergency dentist is well equipped to handle a situation like this.

You
have a knocked-out tooth

Have
you met with an accident and your teeth have been knocked out? You should
immediately rush to an emergency dentist who has experience in handling such a
difficult situation. What you have to do is to put your teeth in a pouch filled
with water and see a dentist who will assess your condition and do the needful.

You
are experiencing numbness in your teeth

You
may have a painful tooth that suddenly becomes numb. You may have a sigh of
relief that the pain has finally gone. But it’s not a good sign because the
numbness may have been caused due to spread of infection to the root of the
tooth. If your aching teeth have suddenly got numb, then it needs immediate
attention and a walk-in dentist could be the right option for you.

You
have a popping in jaw

If
you feel cracking or popping in the jaw, you shouldn’t ignore this signal as it
may be signifying a locked-up jaw. Visit a dentist immediately before things
get complicated. If it is an odd hour, you should consider visiting a 24-hour
emergency dentist.

How
to choose an emergency dentist

Due
to the importance of the dentist and the role he plays in ensuring overall
health, emergency dentists are high in demand. Since they have to treat
patients at very short notice or even without notice, you have to select an
emergency dentist who can handle the situation well without further
complicating it. Here we give valuable tips on how to select an emergency
dentist.

Look
for experience

When
it comes to handling dental emergencies, nothing beats experience. Make sure
your prospective dentist has handled such cases success in the past. Try to
know how much experience they have in handling such cases. Always go for a
24-hour dentist with good experience.

Prefer
one near you

When
it comes to selecting an emergency dentist, location is always an important
consideration. Because in the case of an emergency things can’t wait and you
have very little time at your disposal. 
Here, you should look for a dentist who is not far from your location.
Just search emergency dentists near me in Google and you will be served with
several options available near you.

Does
he accept your dental insurance cover

Many
of you have bought dental insurance plans so that the expenses on oral health
could be minimized. So, you should check with your emergency dentist whether he
accepts your dental insurance plan. If not, you should consider looking for
another dentist.

Know
their working hours

One
of the major considerations while choosing an emergency dentist is knowing
their working hours. Most of the emergency dentists work in 24 hours setup. It
is why they are called 24-hour dentists. Always go for a dentist who is ready
to cater to patients beyond their normal working hours. If he is not ready to
serve beyond business hours, then you should look for other options.

Know
if he handles your kind of emergency

While
deciding on an emergency dentist, you should make sure whether or not he is
handling your kind of emergency. What if he is an expert in dental fillings but
not that comfortable in handling knocked-out teeth? So, you should talk about
your problem before rushing to an emergency dentist.

Make
sure which age group he caters to

Some
dentist caters to all age groups while others cater to the elderly or children
only. Before visiting, give him a call to ensure if he is catering to people of
your age.

Check
if you are comfortable

Being
comfortable is also an important factor people should consider while choosing a
dentist. Check if you are comfortable in his office setup. If not, you should
consider visiting another walk-in dentist.

How to prepare for a visit to an emergency
dentist

While
visiting an emergency dentist you require to be prepared to make the most of
your visit. Here is how to get prepared for a visit to an emergency walk-in
dentist.

Rinse
your mouth with saltwater

Have
you knocked-out teeth, infection, or have a bad toothache; it is always a good
idea to rinse your teeth before visiting an emergency dentist.  You can use salt water to rinse your mouth.
Besides, you should avoid the intake of hot and cold beverages.

Try
to control bleeding

Be
it knocked out teeth or some other accidents, your gums will bleed. You should
try to control the bleeding. You can use sanitized cotton or gauges for this
purpose. If the bleeding is still not stopping you should visit the emergency
room (ER) before visiting an emergency dentist.

Get
a friend or family member to accompany you

Most
of the emergency treatments are intensive, so you may not be able to drive home
on your own. If there is no such friend or relative nearby you can prefer
hiring a car to reach your walk-in dentist.

Keep
your knocked-out tooth, crown, or filing safe

One
of the most common mistakes patients make while visiting a walk-in dentist is
that they don’t preserve their knocked-out teeth, crown or filling. You should
preserve them and take them to your dentist’s office where he can reapply them.
Keep it safe to increase your chances of getting successful treatment.

Make
a call before the visit

Even
if you are making an emergency visit to your dentist you shouldn’t shy away
from making visit to your dentist. With such advanced information, the dentist
gets time to make arrangements for your treatment while you are traveling. 

What
to expect on a visit to the emergency dentist

An
emergency dentist is not a dentist that you visit often. It is why we have no
idea about what to expect or not to expect during a visit. Here we give a brief
description of what should you expect during a visit to an emergency dentist.

At
reception

You
will be welcomed at the reception and reception guying will see certain
information from you. Then he will inform the doctor about your arrival. If the
doctor is not in the office, he will make a call and inform about you it.

Examination
of the patient

The
next stage is taking the patient to the dentist’s cabin where the dentist would
ask the patient about the dental problems. At this stage, the medical history
of the patient will be prepared.

X-ray
and other tests

Based
on the assessment, the dentists would recommend some tests including an X-ray.
All these tests can be performed in-house. These tests are vital to know more
about the problem.

Anesthesia
or sedation

After
getting the test reports and analyzing them, your emergency dentist decides on
a treatment plan. To ensure that treatment should go painless, the dentist
administers anesthesia to make the area to be treated numb. He may give you
sedatives to keep you relaxed throughout the process.

Treating
your teeth and gums

After
anesthesia and sedation, the next stage is a treatment where the emergency
dentist will treat you. He will provide treatment for knocked-out teeth, loose
dental filling, and other kinds of treatments depending upon the requirements.

Giving
the right medicine

After
the completion of the treatment, your emergency dentist decides on the
medication so that the healing process could be completed soon. Your dentist
will write a prescription for it.

Advice
on aftercare and follow-up

In
the final leg of your visit to an emergency dentist’s office, the dentist will
give you advice on aftercare. He will also schedule your follow-up so that your
recovery can be assessed.

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