An emergency toothache is a major disruption in everyday life. When one occurs for you or a loved one, it is important for you to know what you can do. At Pearl Dentistry, we are here for you in the event of a dental emergency.
Dental Emergencies During Our Business Hours
We know that no one plans to have an emergency toothache. Because these events are unscheduled, we specifically reserve times in our schedule every day to see patients who are suffering from an emergency. We hold appointment times open in both the morning and afternoon for our doctor to evaluate and treat emergencies. The sooner we see you, the sooner we can alleviate your discomfort and provide the treatment necessary to ensure your safety.
Dental Emergencies After Hours
We know that not all emergencies keep themselves to business hours. At Pearl Dentistry, we have our doctor on call at all hours. If you have a true dental emergency after hours, simply call our office phone number and follow the instructions on the voicemail to reach our on-call dentist.
It is important to understand the nature of dental emergencies to know how you should proceed. You should go directly to an urgent care facility or emergency room in some dental scenarios. These include:
- An enlarging swelling in the face and/or neck
- Bleeding that does not stop after you apply pressure
- Large cuts that require stitches
- Injuries to the head or neck that may include broken bones
These conditions would take precedence over any dental treatment that may be necessary in the future. Getting them under control with urgent treatment will stabilize the situation and allow you to see the dentist for follow-up care.
What Type of Treatment is Necessary for Emergency Toothaches?
The most important step in treating an emergency toothache is the correct diagnosis of the dental problem. This means that we will begin each emergency visit with a thorough evaluation of the problem area, including one or more dental x-rays. When determining the right treatment for an emergency problem, it is essential that we find the underlying cause of the pain. Otherwise, it is likely to return.
We will then use whatever time we have to provide the necessary treatment to stabilize your situation and relieve the pain. Each tooth is hollow, and the nerves and blood vessels live inside the hollow chamber. These internal nerves send pain signals to the brain when a problem reaches them. The most common culprits of emergency toothaches are infected nerves from deep cavities and inflamed nerves from cracked teeth.
When a deep cavity causes an infection in the nerve, a severe toothache can occur. Once bacteria reaches the internal nerve chamber, the only way to remove it is through a root canal treatment. Because a root canal treatment removes the nerve from the internal chamber of the tooth, it provides almost instant pain relief!
In some cases, the tooth has suffered severe damage, and it is best to remove the tooth. With an extraction, we remove the source of the infection, which allows your body to heal relatively quickly.
We can relieve the pain of cracked teeth by covering the affected tooth with a dental crown and preventing it from further cracking. Cracked teeth may also require root canal treatments if bacteria has already reached the nerve.
We offer other dental treatments during emergency visits as well. Basically, we provide the treatment necessary to stop the pain and put you on a path toward good oral health.
Don’t Wait for an Emergency Toothache!
Call Pearl Dentistry today to schedule an evaluation with our compassionate dentists. We can prevent the majority of emergency toothaches from occurring with consistent dental care.