Sneak Peek: What to Expect During an Emergency Dental Visit

Humans are evolutionarily programmed to fear or question what they don’t know. This caution can preserve your life in dangerous situations, but in modern life, it can also interfere with your choice to get essential care in your time of need. If you have a dental emergency, you may not know what to expect during this urgent visit, so keep reading to learn about the steps you’ll take to get your smile back on track.

Examination and X-Rays

Before your dentist can treat what ails you, they need to fully understand the problem. Through an examination of your mouth and X-rays, they should identify the cause of your emergency. They may test out what actions hurt to zero in on a specific troubled tooth or area of your mouth. From there, they can share their plan to fix it.

Pain Relief

Relieving your discomfort is your dentist’s top priority, and they want to give it to you sooner than later. As soon as they have discovered the underlying issue, depending on the severity of your pain, they will give you a local anesthetic, which will numb the area. Whatever pain you’re experiencing will go away temporarily so that you can sit back feeling more relaxed and at ease as this professional team addresses the problem. By the time the anesthetic wears off, you may feel some soreness, but you won’t experience the same discomfort as before.

Treatment

It isn’t enough to simply alleviate the symptoms of a dental emergency; your dentist needs to focus on rectifying the cause. Otherwise, it will come back again and likely harm your smile and well-being even more. In many cases, treatment may be a root canal, which entails removing the tooth’s nerve, or putting on a restoration like a crown to complete the chipped or broken tooth again.

Potential Scheduling of a Follow-Up Appointment

If you have an emergency that requires more than one appointment, such as with a dental crown, root canal treatment, or veneers, you’ll schedule a follow-up visit to finish the last step. In these cases, the dental lab must fabricate your custom restoration; in the meantime, you’ll wear a temporary one to protect your tooth. The dentist’s office will contact you when it’s ready to place. Once bonded onto your tooth, the crown or veneer should look and feel just like a natural part of your smile.

When it comes to dealing with a dental emergency, don’t give in to any fear about what the visit will involve at the dentist’s office. They are trained to handle many urgent situations, relieve dental pain, and restore your smile to its beautiful, functional state as quickly as possible.

About the Author

Dr. Christopher Nowacki owns and operates Beautiful You Dental and offers various kinds of treatments in this Palm Bay office. As a member of the Academy of General Dentistry, along with other professional organizations, he continues to gain experience and training in the latest technology and techniques. He and his team make time for same-day emergency appointments for patients who call during open hours. If you ever have a dental emergency, give us a call at 321-724-9300 or visit our website here.