Emergency dentist: What is classed as a dental emergency?

What is a dental emergency?

A dental emergency can occur at any time, such as during the evening or over the weekend. If you need urgent dental care during these times, you need to get in touch with an emergency dentist.

A dental emergency is any situation where treatment is needed quickly to prevent long-term dental complications or permanent damage. You may also need an emergency dentist to minimise the chances of future medical complications, oral health deterioration, or when you have severe pain.

If you are unsure as to what is a dental emergency, then here we give you examples and scenarios you may encounter. You can use these to help you decide if you should contact the dental practice immediately or wait until business hours.

 

Examples which require an emergency dentist

You should contact an emergency dentist straight away if you are experiencing uncontrollable bleeding, swellings in or around the mouth, or a rapid increase in swelling. If you have knocked out a tooth, then this is a scenario where you should contact an emergency dentist. A knocked-out tooth can also include impacted tooth loss.

A second emergency scenario that warrants urgent attention is an acute dental infection where the pain cannot be controlled using over-the-counter pain killers. This may also include painful abscesses.

Examples of a non-dental emergency include dental conditions with no pain, broken dentures, and conditions where surgical tooth extraction is needed, but you are in no pain. You should not contact an emergency dentist for aesthetic problems, such as dislodged bridges or crowns, minor toothache, sensitive teeth, denture discomfort, or sensitive gums.

 

What to do if you have a dental emergency

If you need an emergency dentist outside of our regular working hours, you should contact Cheslyn Hay Dental.

If you have sustained a trauma that has knocked out a tooth, find the tooth and try to insert it. However, do not try to reinsert baby teeth.

If you have chipped a tooth or have a broken tooth, this is not a dental emergency. Store the tooth in milk and see the dentist as soon as you can, in normal working hours. If you have cracked a tooth, you can clean your mouth with warm water.

Cheslyn Hay Dental Practice has an emergency dentist ready to help. We are taking extra precautions to ensure you are not put in indue risk of the Covid-19 virus.