Dental emergencies happen in the blink of an eye and when you can’t act fast, using a step-by-step guide for dental emergencies is your only chance. Having a backup plan means that you will not be caught unprepared.
Emergency medicine specialists recommend that you know the signs of an emergency, but not everyone does. Because emergencies occur so quickly, people usually don’t realize they have a problem until it’s too late. As a result, they are unprepared to respond to a dental emergency.
In most dental emergency cases, the problem is simple and easily remedied. Typically, a toothache develops from nerve damage or infection. A tooth abscess can form when bacteria travel up the tooth root and into the mouth tissue. The problem is that many people do not seek treatment until they experience discomfort, pain, bleeding, or swelling.
Emergency medicine doctors recommend that you stop eating and drinking as soon as you realize you have an emergency. They also recommend that you make a trip to the dentist as soon as possible. In some cases, having an appointment for your immediate care is the only option.
Because immediate care is important, the steps you follow should be careful and systematic. If you follow the steps carefully, you won’t get caught unprepared. Before you do anything else, consult your doctor to ensure that your teeth are healthy and clean.
Then, get yourself to the dentist on time. This means early, not at the last minute. You need to know what your dentist is capable of, and what his or her office procedures are. Your dental emergencies aren’t likely to happen after you’ve been to the dentist four times and gotten x-rays every month.
When you arrive at the emergency room, bring a few things with you to the dentist. This may include: your insurance card, your I.D. card, copies of all your recent X-rays, your checkbook, and the birth certificate of anyone under the age of 18. This paperwork ensures that if you become critically ill or injured during the visit, you will be covered.
You must know the procedures that your dentist will be performing on you. For example, when your dentist opens a tooth, he or she will place gauze around the area, seal it off, and begin suctioning the cavity with a machine called a carorbifier. There are other procedures, but this is the basic one.
After the cavity is sealed, the dentist will perform a procedure called a dental filling to fill in the dentin, the part of the tooth where the tooth is attached to the gum. Next, the dentist will perform root canal therapy. This is a step in which a hollow tube is placed under the gum and sucks out the plaque and infection. Then, the dentist will remove the tooth and replace it with a metal one.
At the emergency room, you will be assessed and if there are any problems you will be treated. If there are no problems, you will be released.
Once you are in the emergency room, you can go home and contact your insurance company. If they agree that the procedure was medically necessary, they will cover the cost of the procedure and of any follow-up visits.
Emergency medical care requires you to prepare before hand, so that you have the information available when you need it. Keep in mind that if you cannot show the dentist the X-rays and the following procedures, your insurance company may deny the claim.