A broken tooth is not necessarily an emergency. Sometimes you can wait for your upcoming scheduled dental appointment for treatment for a toothache or tooth sensitivity. An off the shelf pain reliever can provide necessary relief until your dentist is available. It can be confusing as to what might require an emergency dental visit. A broken tooth will often fall into this category. By reviewing the suggestions that follow, you can determine whether emergency attention is necessary.
Understanding What is a Dental Emergency
A dental emergency is a situation that requires immediate attention from a medical professional. Often, this means calling your dentist for an urgent appointment. In other situations, it might be necessary to go to a hospital emergency room or a neighboring urgent care facility. This can provide you the vital immediate medical treatment you need until you can be seen by your dentist.
How Do You Know When to Seek Emergency Treatment?
A broken tooth usually necessitates an urgent visit to your dentist. A broken tooth is a quite common dental emergency. People often can suffer a broken tooth from taking a fall, participating in a contact sport, or even biting hard food. Even though a broken tooth is a serious matter, there are still different types of a broken tooth that can be considered non-emergencies.
A chipped tooth or a minor tooth fracture does not require an immediate visit to your dentist or an emergency room. There is no short-term threat to your overall health or your well-being. In either of these situations simply schedule a regular dental appointment in the near future.
Emergency dental care is crucial for a major broken tooth. A serious fracture is when a large part of the tooth has broken completely off. This condition is quite often accompanied by some pretty intense oral pain. In this case, seeking immediate medical attention is essential.
Knowing Where to Go for a Dental Emergency
You can get the medical treatment you need whether there is a dentist present or not. Your dentist might set aside some time in the office schedule to regularly treat emergencies. It is certainly worthwhile to call your dentist or another local dentist in your area. There is a strong possibility the office will work your emergency in the same day you broke the tooth.
A broken tooth will never happen when it is convenient. A broken tooth accident could happen at night, or on a busy weekend or even right in the middle of a holiday. In any of these circumstances, call your dental office no matter what time it is. There is usually an emergency number for you to dial which will provide you pre-recorded instructions on how to handle your dental emergency. There is always the option of heading to the ER.
Is a Broken Tooth an Emergency?
Does your broken tooth require an emergency dental visit? The answer to this question is not cut and dried and will vary from case to case. It will depend on the severity of the fracture. Seek immediate emergency attention if a sizable portion of the tooth has broken off and you are experiencing pain.