Our Emergency Dentist Office Can Keep You Out of the ER

Contacting an emergency dentist is really not a hard thing. Making sure you have a relationship with one so that you are comfortable when you do need urgent care, and know the people and doctors, takes a little more effort. The reality is that most Americans do not give much thought to their teeth at all. In fact, over 40% do not even visit the dentist with the frequency that they should to maintain optimum health. When you start to consider that most people do not believe or think about, the fact that they might one day need urgent medical attention, it becomes apparent why most people do not have an emergency dentist in their contacts. A toothache, however, can appear at any time and usually, it would seem, tends to do so at the most inconvenient times and locations. Not having an emergency dentist you can call means you will be scrambling at two o'clock in the morning to google the name of someone who can take away your discomfort, or will mean jumping in the car for a trip down to your local emergency room. Taking the precaution to have emergency contacts for dental and medical emergencies is a small but potentially important step that can help you to plan ahead.  As such, we recommend putting our office number in your cell phone.

An Emergency Dentist vs. an ER Doctor
An emergency dentist is trained as a dentist and offers services outside of regular business hours as well. As one, we are similar to the doctors in an ER, given our ability to treat you immediately, but there are notable differences. Over the last several years, there has been an uptick in the number of people visiting the emergency room of their local hospital for dental issues or emergencies connected to their teeth. In a three-year study, that encompassed 24 states, the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that the number of dental patients visiting the ER had increased by 16%. This means that there are literally thousands of patients getting dental attention from doctors that are not trained to be emergency dentists. Unfortunately, skilled as they are, these emergency room physicians are not trained to diagnose and treat the dental illnesses that may be causing your discomfort. As a result, they can treat the symptoms but will not be able to treat the actual cause of the symptoms and chances are you will need to return to the ER or go see an emergency dentist sooner rather than later. The same study found that over 20% of the people seeking dental help in the ER were actually returning patients, coming back with the same symptoms.  If they had visited an emergency dentist, the issue causing the discomfort would have been addressed in the first place.
The most common reason why people seek out emergency care for their teeth is a toothache. A toothache is also a perfect example of why you should be treated by an emergency dentist, not just a regular doctor. A toothache can be just that, a simple tooth pain, or it can be a symptom of a much deeper problem like an infection or gum diseases that need treatment by a dentist.  When you visit our emergency dentist office, we can address any oral health problem you are facing and do so quickly so that you don't need to visit the ER.

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