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Dealing With A Dental Emergency

2018 August 13
by admin

Seeking prompt treatment to restore a damaged or infected tooth.

Whilst there might be some confusion as to what actually constitutes a dental emergency; in our view it would be anything where prompt treatment is required. This is sometimes obvious, such as when a tooth has been badly damaged in an accident, but may also include things like a toothache, where the pain is causing a great deal of suffering. Our experienced receptionists will discuss your problem when you ring for an emergency appointment, and will prioritise your appointment accordingly. Where we possibly can, we will see all emergency dental patients on the same day. More severe cases will, naturally, be given priority.

Making a dental appointment is the first thing that you should do when damage or pain occurs. Unless you have also received a head trauma, you should not call 999 as this is for serious emergencies only.

Managing the pain

Once you have made your appointment at Alexandra Dental Care, the next thing you should do is to keep yourself as comfortable as possible, and not cause any further damage to the tooth.

In most cases, your normal painkiller will be sufficient to ease any discomfort to a manageable level, until your appointment time. If the tooth is very painful though, your local pharmacist may be able to suggest something more appropriate.

If the tooth is broken, it is important that you try to keep the remaining tooth structure as intact as possible. This could, potentially, make all the difference between having a filling or a dental crown, or even having the tooth extracted. Avoid eating hard foods and avoid using that tooth altogether. As the enamel will almost certainly have been damaged, you are likely to notice an increased sensitivity and we recommend avoiding very hot or cold food or drinks.

Pain can be very distracting, especially where it comes in short, and often unexpected, bursts. Because of this, we recommend that you avoid doing anything that might be dangerous if you are distracted. Driving or operating certain types of machinery are cases in point. Because of this, it may be necessary to take time from work until your treatment has been carried out.

Minimal restorations

Our Ashby and Swadlincote patients can be assured that we will restore your teeth in as minimally invasive manner as possible. This means that we will retain as much of the natural tooth as is feasible, which will depend on the nature of any damage and will need to be assessed by our dentists.

If you are in doubt whether your problem should be classed as an emergency or not, we advise you to call us anyway and discuss the problem with our receptionists. It is better to act quickly than to allow a problem to worsen, through inaction, and require more extensive treatment when the pain becomes unbearable.

To arrange your emergency dental appointment with Alexandra Dental Care, please call us on 01283 216347.

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