Dental Emergency: When to Book an Emergency Dental Appointment?

Like other health issues, emergencies can also arise involving your teeth or mouth—and they usually happen without warning. Knowing how to handle the situation and where to book a dentist appointment online can help you move into action immediately, helping resolve the issue faster. However, not all dental issues call for urgent care. 

So, how do you know the difference between an emergency and a less serious situation that doesn’t require immediate attention?

Common Types of Dental Emergencies

Knowing when you’re dealing with a dental emergency is crucial but knowing what to do when it happens is what’s most important. 

Here are five situations where you need to book a dentist appointment online as soon as you can.

Mouth Injury

A strong impact to the mouth often results in a jaw injury which can cause the jawline to appear distorted. If this happens to you, keep your face as still as possible while getting emergency assistance. Likewise, you should call your dentist as soon as possible if the impact caused you to bite your lip, tongue, or cheek and the bleeding hasn’t stopped after 15 minutes, even after applying pressure to the injured area.

Loss of Permanent Tooth

When a permanent tooth gets knocked out completely, it’ll bleed everywhere. Needless to say, you’ll experience extreme pain. Fortunately, you can still save your tooth, but you only have a small window of opportunity. Pick up the tooth by the crown and try not to touch the roots.

The best way to preserve it is to put it back in the socket where it came from. If that’s not possible, the next best thing is to put it in a cup of milk. Book a dental appointment right away. Without immediate action or treatment, the fix could be much more invasive or expensive. Despite all the additional pain and expenses, you can still potentially lose your permanent teeth.

Many clinics offer a reasonable emergency dental payment plan to help you cover the costs. But do you really want to pay more when you can avoid the extra expenses with early intervention?

Broken or Chipped Tooth

Mouth injuries can sometimes result in a broken tooth. If this happens to you, collect the tooth fragment(s) and put them in a clean container. Call your dentist immediately and make an emergency dental appointment. Use warm water to clean the injured area and place a cold washcloth over it. 

Tooth Abscess

Dental abscess is one of the most common issues dental emergency Brisbane clinics deal with. This happens when a pocket of pus inside the tooth causes an infection. Aside from causing tooth sensitivity, it could also cause tender lymph nodes in the neck area, bumps on the gums near the affected area, consistent toothache, and high fever. This could also give you a foul taste in your mouth.

The infection could spread to your jaw and surrounding tissues, making it a serious and potentially life-threatening condition. So, it’s important to book a dentist appointment online right away. In the meantime, you can rinse several times a day with salt water to draw the pus to the surface to reduce the pain. You can also place a cold compress on your cheek if it’s swollen.

Toothache

A toothache doesn’t necessarily mean you need emergency attention, but it can happen for a number of reasons, including mouth injury, tooth decay, and tooth abscess. Sometimes it can happen for no apparent reason at all. It can suddenly happen after eating cold or hot food.

Worn tooth enamel, cracked dental filling, and exposed tooth dentin are other possible causes of tooth pain. If the pain is unbearable or you’ve recently had a mouth injury, do not hesitate to contact your dentist right away. You can take a pain reliever to dull the pain.

Key Takeaway

Unlike a few decades ago, a lot of dentists now provide dental emergency care. If you’re worried about the cost, look for a dental clinic that offers a reasonable payment plan. Whether you need emergency braces removal, tooth extraction, or other urgent dental care, search for a dental clinic that can help you with your dental emergency.

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