Five common dental emergencies!
Are you looking for an emergency dentist in Donegal? Do you suspect that you should be getting emergency dental treatment because you are in pain, or because you chipped a tooth, or because of any other apparent dental issue? Are you unsure whether or not to simply just reach out for help or patiently wait for the problem to pass? The latter is never a good idea, by the way. Let us help you with a few tips. What can be considered a dental emergency? In what instances should someone be seeking emergency dental treatment? We collected a few of the most common types of dental emergencies and relatable scenarios for you in this article in hopes of informing you and possibly helping to ease your mind.
Dental emergencies mainly consist of issues relating to pain, bleeding, trauma or post-surgery complications. An abscessed tooth, a broken tooth, randomly bleeding gums, a loose dental bridge or a dental crown that has fallen off are all good enough reasons to seek emergency dental care as soon as possible.
Here is a list of the most common dental emergencies:
- Tooth abscess
Tooth abscess, for one, is essentially an infection that results in pockets of pus filled with bacteria forming around the tooth. The bacterial infection can cause moderate to severe pain which can radiate to the ear and the neck. The pus can form on the gums, on the gum surrounding the root of a tooth or on the tip of a tooth’s root.
- Broken or chipped tooth
A broken or chipped tooth can be seen as a dental emergency as well, as it can have sharp edges and thus hurt, or even cut the gums and tongue, giving way to bacteria to make a nest in your oral cavity.
- Aching tooth
An aching tooth that is far beyond repair might be in need of a last-minute extraction before you are traveling to a place where you surely will not have access to dental care.
- Emergency teeth extraction
Even though wisdom teeth removal is not considered a dental emergency procedure, you might be in need of an emergency wisdom teeth extraction if the teeth become impacted and cause you painful and unpleasant symptoms, such as jaw pain, swollen gums or infections.
- Gum bleeding
Sudden or excessive gum bleeding calls for emergency treatment, too, because it indicates underlying infections such as cavities or gum disease.
What to do if you have a dental emergency, but cannot visit your trusted dental professional with the problem? Let us say, you travelled from your current place of living and are enjoying your well-deserved days off with your family in Donegal, when one of your teeth suddenly starts throbbing with sharp, unwavering pain, or one or more of your dental crowns fall off. Maybe, you are visiting Letterkenny because of an important conference where you are supposed to be giving a presentation in the upcoming days but cannot talk because your cheeks are swollen with inflammation. Maybe, your child started crying and is still in pain ever since biting into a particularly hard piece of sugary treat or cold ice cream. Alternatively, it is a Saturday, but your dental professional works only from Mondays to Fridays, and you happen to be in need of emergency treatment regardless. Rest assured: our dental clinic located in Letterkenny is here to tend to your needs, whether you have aesthetic issues with a broken front tooth or are in need of a last-minute, pain-free tooth extraction before leaving town.
Our dental clinic operates an emergency service from Mondays to Saturdays. Should you have a dental emergency, please do not hesitate to call the reception to book an emergency appointment as we cannot guarantee walk-ins to be seen and treated immediately, and you might have to wait for a long time. From Monday to Friday, if you phone before 10am, we will do our very best to get you seen the day of your call. If you phone after 10am we will get you seen the following day if possible. If you prefer, you can also schedule an appointment here:
On Saturdays, we can offer same day emergency appointments 10am – 5pm. There is an emergency fee of €30 Monday – Friday and €50 on a Saturday, plus the cost of the treatment carried out. You should understand that such issues are called dental emergencies for a reason, as all registered and non-registered patients can be seen as emergency patients.