A dental emergency can be defined as a condition that requires urgent dental care and attention – although it may not be life-threatening. This is unlike a medical emergency where the patient’s life, vision, health may be in danger. While routine dental appointments may take some time, finding an emergency dentist shouldn’t be hard. Determining what counts as a dental emergency, however, remains a mystery for many people.
Some of the dental conditions that qualify as a dental emergency include:
1. Extruded tooth: This condition may be caused by impact on the head or mouth, where a tooth is knocked out of place hence left hanging. Although the tooth may be hanging from its normal position, it can be saved, but only if the patient gets to a dentist fast. Although seeing your dentist could seem like the best option, it would be advisable to seek the services of an emergency dentist providing 24-hour dental services. The tooth can be restored if handled in time.
2. Broken tooth: Should your tooth chip or break after biting something hard, leaving a sharp edge, you should then treat this as a dental emergency. One of the reasons for this is that the broken tooth exposes pulp and nerve endings, which could lead to lots of excruciating pain and toothache. Aside from this, the sharp edge poses the risk of injuring your tongue and gums, hence should be examined by a dentist immediately.
3. Avulsed teeth: This condition is almost similar to extruded teeth, only that the tooth has been knocked out completely. Although the tooth may have been knocked out, you can still save it. You however need to retrieve the tooth/teeth then get help from an emergency dentist. Experts recommend seeing a dentist within an hour to be able to save the teeth, failure to which you could lose them permanently.
4. Excessive dental bleeding: Severe dental bleeding (more than 3 minutes) needs urgent dental attention, hence should be treated as a dental emergency. Such conditions occur a few days after a tooth extraction, and can lead to other serious complications. Nonetheless, requesting an urgent assessment of the same can help manage the condition, and possibly prevent an infection or further tooth loss.
5. Abscess: A tooth abscess is characterized by swelling behind the affected tooth. The abscess is caused by a bacterial infection that starts to eat away the tooth and gum, and can cause a toothache, headache, pain while chewing food, or even flu-like symptoms. Although the swelling develops slowly, the condition gets worse with time, hence should be addressed in time. If severely infected, the dentist may have to extract the tooth, though a simple RCT may help solve the problem.
Should you experience any of the above mentioned dental conditions, you should then seek help immediately. Waiting for too long could lead to tooth loss and several oral infections. While an emergency dentist in Albuquerque may be able to assist, you should make it a habit of seeing your dentist regularly for proper dental care.