A toothache just when you are about to give a presentation. You are not able to speak, not able to eat. For the past two weeks, you have been feeling a slight pain which you ignored; now suddenly, it has grown to a severe toothache. Now you have tried a hot water compress and pain medication, but the pain is not going down.
How do you know for certain that you need to visit an emergency dental care provider? Is this your top Google search after the pain becomes unbearable? The answer is that not all dental problems require emergency assistance, but some do; if not addressed, the problem may worsen.
In Sacramento, many people might be ignoring the warning signs of an emergency. Find a local dental care facility, such as Samuel Dental Care, that provides emergency services to patients experiencing any of the following symptoms.
- Tooth pain that won’t subside
If you just ate something cold or hard and experienced a mild toothache, then it is nothing to worry about. Suppose this pain did not go away after a couple of hours or made it hard to function through the day. This could mean that nerves inside the tooth are inflamed or infected.
Things to check before visiting an Emergency Dental Care: if the pain lasts more than two days, or if there is no relief from painkillers.
2. A tooth gets knocked out or knocked loose
Due to sports or any accident, your tooth falls off. There is only a small window in which it can be saved. You have around 30 minutes to 1 hour to reimplant the tooth.
When this happens, pick the tooth up by the crown, the part that is not attached to the gum. Rinse it gently with water if it falls on dirt. Either place it back in the socket from where it came loose or put it in a jar with milk. Then head to Emergency dental care fast.
3. Swelling in or around the Mouth
If your gums, face, or jaw are swollen and you find it difficult to close and open your mouth. The American Dental Association defines dental emergencies as conditions that need urgent care to stop bleeding, treat infections, or relieve severe pain. Dental infections can lead to serious complications if they spread beyond the tooth itself.
A small bump on your gum near a sore tooth might be an abscess. That’s a pocket of pus that forms when bacteria get into the inner part of the tooth or the gum tissue around it. Sometimes the swelling stays small. Other times it spreads to your cheek, under your jaw, or down your neck.
4. A sharp pain due to Cracked Teeth
The enamel is strong, but it can be cracked. While crushing ice or falling down the stairs, you heard something crack. A crack in the tooth can be an extremely sharp pain when you bite into your food.
A small chip on a tooth, if not painful, may not need same-day treatment. But if you hear a cracking sound that starts at the crown and extends to the gum, you need emergency dental care.
If the break is from an older filling that fell out, that also needs attention soon. The tooth underneath is weaker without that filling and can break further if you keep chewing on it.
5. Bleeding that won’t stop after an injury
Some bleeding after a tooth extraction or a deep cleaning is normal. A little blood when you floss a spot you’ve been neglecting is also normal. Bleeding that is continuous and does not stop after a thorough wash is an emergency.
If the bleeding does not stop, it may indicate a cut in the soft tissues of the mouth, such as the tongue, lips, gums, or inner cheeks. Hold a gauge at the spot where it is bleeding and rush to a dentist who handles emergency cases, like Samuel Dental Care.
When the ER isn’t the best option for a dental problem
Here’s something a lot of people in Sacramento don’t realize. Hospital emergency rooms can manage pain and give you antibiotics for a dental infection. But most ERs don’t have the equipment or the staff to actually fix the dental problem causing the pain.
A report from CareQuest Institute found that in 2019, there were 1.8 million ER visits for non-traumatic dental conditions, costing $3.4 billion to treat. CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. That’s a lot of money spent on visits where the actual tooth problem didn’t get fixed.
Calling a dentist who offers emergency appointments is almost always the better path. You get the treatment you actually need instead of just pain management.
Taking Care of Dental Issues before an Emergency
Most dental emergencies don’t come out of nowhere. That cracked tooth started with a hairline fracture months ago. That abscess grew from a cavity that went untreated. Catching issues early with regular checkups saves you a lot of pain and money down the road.
If you’re in the Sacramento area and experiencing sudden tooth pain, swelling, or a mouth injury, don’t wait and hope it goes away. Get it checked. The sooner you act, the more options your dentist has to save the tooth and relieve your pain.
