Can the ER Help With a Tooth?

While toothaches tend to be bothersome, you don’t consider visiting the emergency room with the pain, swelling, and discomfort too often. However, with the agonizing pain robbing you of your sleep, there comes a time when you think about whether you should visit the ER.

Most people generally contact emergency dentist Ohio, such as Teledentistry, when they experience toothaches at odd hours. Online consultation with experts can help you ease the pain with the right medication. However, when you find the pain to be life-threatening or intolerable, there’s always the scope to reach out to the emergency room in a reputed hospital.

Let’s discuss why and when you should get across to the ER with a toothache.

Should you reach out to the ER with a painful tooth?

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Technically, it’s possible for patients to seek the assistance of medical professionals by visiting an emergency room with a painful tooth. However, the ER would treat you only if they consider the situation a medical emergency. The doctors would administer temporary measures that would relieve you of the pain to some extent. Next, you need to follow up with a dentist. Whether or not your medical insurance would cover these expenses depends on the plan’s coverage.

Rather than directly reaching out to the ER, it would be wise to consult established dental professionals. They would be able to diagnose the tooth problem and prescribe the right set of medicines immediately. Since the experts dispatch the prescriptions directly to the pharmacy close to your home, you can collect the medicines faster. Meanwhile, you can try out home remedies to reduce toothache.

What’s the alternative to avoiding an ER visit?

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Preventive dentistry serves as the best line of defense against severe dental issues. Reputed dentists would recommend you the best practices to keep dental emergencies at bay. This ensures that you have fewer chances of experiencing such a situation in the first place.

Next, keep the contact details of your emergency dentist handy. You can simply call the professionals for dental care when the pain shoots. Several reputed dental care organizations have the provision for after-hour emergencies.

Lastly, make sure to include dental care in your insurance policy. This will help you cover the diagnostic and preventive care cost. In case of an emergency, dentists recommend you undergo treatments like root canals, fillings, bridges, crowns, and other procedures.

How suitable is an emergency room to treat tooth pain?

Visiting an emergency room involves significant financial expenses. So, it makes sense to decide whether or not the pain is ER-worthy. In the first place, reach out to your emergency dentist online. However, if you find it tough to bear the pain or it tends to make you unconscious, don’t waste time and visit the emergency room.

However, if the pain is bearable and you know that it’s a minor dental issue troubling you, consulting your regular dentist would do. Unless there’s an urgency to get yourself treated, there’s no point wasting your money visiting the ER. Dentists would prescribe medicines, or you can settle for over-the-counter medication to get some relief.

What should you consider to be a dental emergency?

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You should consider any injury to your teeth and gums as an emergency. You cannot afford to ignore bleeding gum, a broken tooth, or any situation that causes unbearable pain to your teeth. Seeking medical attention immediately can help you mitigate the pain.

Here are some of the instances that qualify as a dental emergency.

  • Your toothache keeps spreading to other parts of your face, like your jaw, ears, and eyes.
  • You experience fever due to severe pain in your tooth.
  • Along with throbbing toothache, you experience uncontrolled bleeding.
  • You find it challenging to swallow food due to dental pain.
  • Even after administering antibiotics, the situation keeps deteriorating.
  • Your tooth has completely been knocked out.

Which dental conditions don’t condition as dental emergencies?

Here are some conditions that don’t qualify as dental emergencies. So, if you experience any of these symptoms, reach out to your regular dentist.

  • You only experience minor pain in your tooth and gums.
  • You had a dental operation or tooth extraction within the last couple of days and have been experiencing pain.
  • You have a broken or chipped tooth.

Is it possible to avoid dental emergencies?

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Although not 100% avoidable, you can try and prevent dental emergencies from arising in most situations. For instance, if you have an accident or fall knocking your teeth off, you might experience profuse bleeding. This requires immediate medical attention, and you must contact your emergency dentists.

However, if you regularly engage yourself in sports activities, you should use a mouthguard. This ensures that you won’t hurt your teeth, which can amount to dental emergencies.

As a part of preventive maintenance, make sure to follow up the regular protocols with your dentist. They might recommend cleaning your teeth once every six months. This ensures that your teeth won’t accumulate plaque or tartar. Skipping an appointment can aggravate the condition, making you susceptible to intense pain.

Another way to prevent dental emergencies is to brush your teeth regularly. Also, floss the teeth to ensure no food particles get left behind. These food sources attract bacteria, who dig deep into your teeth through cracks and eventually lead to decay.

Endnote

Rather than visiting the emergency room where doctors prescribe medicines to temporarily relieve you of pain, it is wise to reach out to specialists. At Teledentistry, seasoned dentists are available 24/7 to treat your dental issues. Dedicated and instant care from these experts will see you through the painful moments.

Moreover, these dentists can administer the right set of medicines for pain mitigation faster since they would carry out a more accurate diagnosis. Evidently, it’s wise to reach out to certified emergency doctors for immediate pain relief. Now that you know when you should visit the ER to address toothache, you can make a sounder decision at the trying hours.