What Exactly Qualifies as a Dental Emergency?

When experiencing painful and alarming symptoms in your mouth, it is important to consider whether you may be experiencing a dental emergency. However, it can be difficult to determine exactly what is a dental crisis, and therefore whether it is a necessity to seek immediate help.

Read on to learn more about when you should consider seeing a dentist urgently.

Signs to See an Emergency Dentist

While different from a medical emergency, urgent dental issues should still be addressed as soon as possible. A medical emergency can be explained as a significant issue which is likely to have long-term or fatal impacts if not seen to swiftly. A dental emergency, however, may not be critical or life-threatening yet should still be addressed quickly.

Here are some signs you are experiencing a dental emergency:

●    Uncontrollable bleeding from the mouth

●    Serious infection

●    Severe pain

●    Bleeding gums

●    Dental injuries i.e. the tooth has been knocked out

Getting Help

Most dentist surgeries offer emergency dental appointments, so you should be able to contact your local surgery for help. If you cannot find help at your usual dentist, it is worth contacting other surgeries in your area to get help efficiently and quickly.

You should not need to contact A&E unless your issue is or could be life-threatening. If you’re not sure whether your concern is a medical emergency or a dental emergency, you can use NHS 111 Online to check before seeking help.

If it is determined that you are not undergoing an emergency, it is still worth contacting your dentist. While they might not need to see you immediately, your surgery may still be able to book you in for an earlier appointment, particularly if you are in a great deal of pain.

At The Appointment

When arriving to see your emergency dentist, there are a few things you can expect.

The dentist should first locate and determine the issue. By doing so, the dentist will be able to help relieve any pain you may be experiencing. Once diagnosed, they can ascertain whether any surgery may be necessary, for example, a root canal or removal of the tooth.

If an operation is required, your dentist should talk you through what will happen and what the result should be. This will prepare you for anything that may need to be done, including being anaesthetised or loss of a tooth.

Following any treatment they offer during your appointment, they may organise to see you again. A second appointment will be used to check how the problem has been healing and that there are no further issues.

How We Can Help

At Acorn Dental Health, our dental experts offer out-of-hours care for your teeth. We aim to offer same-day appointments to give you the help you need as soon as possible. Besides our emergency care, we also provide a variety of dental treatments and dental hygiene procedures, which can prevent a dental crisis in the long term. Contact us today for more information or to speak to one of our staff members.