When Does a Toothache Represent a Dental Emergency?
Whenever you experience a toothache, you probably stress about losing a tooth or, worse, requiring a visit to a nearby emergency dentist to evaluate what’s wrong with the tooth. In addition, you dread emergency dental visits beyond office hours, thinking you might have to pay higher prices for the treatment you receive.
You try to manage the toothache yourself by visiting the neighborhood drugstore for pain relievers you think might provide some relief, little realizing that a toothache is better evaluated by the dentist in Pleasant Hill before it aggravates. You might notice some improvement in the toothache after taking the pill relievers. However, how will you react if the toothache returns with ferocity and sharpness, bringing along sensitivity to hot and cold temperatures and sweetened foods?
Whenever you experience intense pain that doesn’t subside and returns with severity even after taking pain relievers, it indicates you have severe oral issues requiring help from emergency dentistry near you without exceptions. Such situations need immediate attention to preserve your tooth from extraction and need several treatments from dentists to replace the missing tooth.
Familiar Reasons for Emergency Teeth Pain
Every toothache needs attention from a dentist or your dentist. However, some common oral problems can result in severe toothaches when least expected. You might think you can ignore the pain until morning, when your dentist might accommodate an appointment for you. However, your mouth bacteria doesn’t wait until daytime but starts working on your tooth to complicate the issue.
If you have a cavity in your tooth from tooth decay, you can rest assured the bacteria in your mouth will ensure the hole expands until it reaches the dental pulp, the soft center of your tooth holding the blood vessels, nerves, and connective tissue. If you have developed dental pulp infections, you might also have an abscess near the roots of your gums, indicating a life-threatening illness that needs immediate attention. The situation calls for a visit to emergency dentistry in Pleasant Hill to receive intensive treatment or allow the tooth to die and have it extracted and seek replacements.
You might experience toothaches from chipped, broken, or fractured teeth due to impacts on your mouth. These toothaches also need immediate attention to ensure your mouth bacteria don’t penetrate the chips or cracks to create painful infections.
Not every toothache needs emergency dental care, but it is challenging to differentiate between dental pain needing emergency attention and a toothache that you can manage using over-the-counter medications. However, if you want to remain vigilant, your best option is to seek help from emergency dentists to identify the root cause of the problem affecting you.
How Do Dentists Treat Emergency Teeth Pain?
When you visit the Pleasant Hill dentist near Martinez in your area with a severe toothache beyond office hours, they will likely examine the tooth by taking x-rays to verify whether you have severe damage or decay within the tooth affecting the soft center. In some cases, if dentists feel the damage isn’t severe, you might receive prescription painkillers and advice to care for your teeth appropriately.
Many toothaches result from food particles trapped between the teeth, which dentists remove using dental floss. However, if you need severe treatments like endodontic therapy, emergency dentists have the infrastructure and experience to perform these points in their practice after evaluating the tooth and the severity of the damage affecting you.
If the toothache emanates from a chipped or cracked tooth, the dentist might determine that the tooth needs fixing with procedures like dental crowns veneers that are generally unavailable in one visit to restore your tooth.
If you have an infection in the tooth and fixing it right away is challenging, the dentist recommends prescription pain relievers and antibiotics, requesting you to complete the course and reschedule an appointment to undergo the treatment you need. In such cases, you might have to endure discomfort for a couple of days before finding the relief you need from the dental pain.
If you decide to revisit the emergency dentist for the treatment recommended after controlling the infection with antibiotics, the dentist gladly provides the therapy to eliminate pain from the mouth and possibly preserve your tooth.
Minor toothaches do not represent dental emergencies and are manageable at home using readily available over-the-counter painkillers or home remedies for temporary relief. However, visiting your dentist or any dentist nearby is essential to ensure you don’t have a severe infection in your tooth that might aggravate without warning.
Dentists recommend you maintain your dental health in excellent condition by brushing twice daily, flossing once, and getting six monthly dental prophylaxis. They can also provide a customized treatment plan when examining your teeth if you have any conditions that might expand into an emergency. Following your dentist’s advice helps you prevent the untoward situation with the potential of causing panic at any time of the day or night.
Grafton Dental receives many patients complaining about toothaches they treat after an examination. If you are in a similar situation, please do not hesitate to contact this practice or call them and schedule your appointment for emergency dentistry.