Reasons for an Emergency Dental Service
Accidents happen. You can take all the precautions in the world, but at the end of the day, you can’t protect yourself from the unexpected. That’s why insurance is a booming industry: it allows you to live freely knowing that whatever happens down the road, you’ll be covered. According to the American Dental Association, more and more Americans have been visiting their dentist for emergency dental services.
However, according to the association, not all of these patients actually needed to visit an emergency dentist in Easton, PA. About 55% of the visits were considered semi-urgent, and 20% were considered non-urgent, meaning they could have been easily handled by a dental office instead. Are you having a hard time determining whether a dental issue needs emergency treatment or not? This guide explores tooth injuries as one of the common dental emergencies patients have.
Common Dental Emergencies: Tooth Injury
Simply put, dental emergencies are dental problems that need swift medical attention from an Easton, PA dentist. A lot of dental issues can go unnoticed for quite a while, especially if you don’t keep up with regular dentist appointments. Eventually, this can result in more severe dental issues like periodontitis or even tooth loss. Other dental issues make themselves known right away. You just have to find the best dentist in Easton, PA, to treat them. Here are some of the most common dental emergencies Dr. Moghadam sees at his dental office in Easton:
Tooth Injury
Although the teeth are pretty sturdy and meant to last your entire life, they are still susceptible to physical trauma. Accidents involving motor vehicles and non-motor vehicles can be quite serious, and they often result in tooth loss. Additionally, according to the American Dental Assistants Association, five million Americans lose teeth every year from sports injuries. The most common types of tooth injury are:
Types of Tooth Injuries
They are usually caused by an abrupt blow to the face, either during a sport or at an accident, and the level of severity depends on the force of the blow. The best cosmetic dentists in Easton, PA, refer to a tooth with a longitudinal crack as having craze lines. This kind of fracture only mildly affects the enamel and isn’t very high risk. However, if a crack or split starts at the crown and extends down into the tooth, contact an emergency dentist in Easton, PA.
Dental Emergency Symptoms
These are some of the symptoms you may experience:
- Sharp pain which dissipates afterward when you bite down
- Pain when eating or drinking hot or cold food and beverages
- Tooth pain that comes and goes
- Damaged enamel, which ends up exposing the dentin, pulp, and even the surface of the tooth’s root.
Knocked-out Tooth
A knocked-out tooth can be put back in place, but the chances of it being successful reduce significantly with time, so make sure you seek emergency treatment within 30 minutes of the injury. Dr. O’Grady, an emergency dentist in Denver, CO, recommends keeping the knocked-out tooth moist at all times. This will help with saving the tooth.
Cracked or Broken Tooth
Note that cracked teeth aren’t always accompanied by pain. Additionally, the crack isn’t always visible to the naked eye, so you may have to rely on your dentist to spot it. However, if you experience any pain in your teeth, contact an emergency dentist in Easton, PA right away. Restorative treatments such as fillings and dental crowns in Easton PA may be used to fill in cracks, but if the tooth is too severely damaged, it may have to be extracted.
Fractured Teeth
Fractured roots are also pretty common. If you get hit in the jaw at just the right (or wrong) angle, the force might fracture a tooth root. A crack will then start in the root and travel upwards to the crown. Such a crack might be even more difficult to spot by yourself, and you will only realize that something’s wrong when an infection develops.
Tooth Intrusion
Tooth intrusion is when instead of getting knocked out, the tooth is driven into the jaw. This type of injury is more common with children as their alveolar bones, which hold the tooth socket, aren’t as mature and hard as an adult’s. Without emergency dental treatment in Easton, PA, a tooth intrusion can lead to:
- Destruction or necrosis of the tooth pulp resulting from permanent damage
- Root resorption, or shortening of the tooth root. Up to 70% of the adults that experience tooth intrusion experience root resorption
- Ankylosis, the fusion of the injured root to the alveolar bone.
Treatment Dental Emergencies
If you experience any sort of physical blow to the mouth and jaw area, contact an Easton, PA dentist ASAP. You may not have suffered a serious injury, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Dr. David Moghadam explains that prevention is well worth it. So, make sure you get ahead of any potential dental issues. The best way to do that is to visit your Easton PA dentist at least once every six months for a full-mouth dental exam.
Did you suffer an injury or accident that has left your teeth feeling a little sore? Or are you in need of alternative dental services like dental implants, dental crowns, or Invisalign in Easton, PA? We at College Hill Dental Group would be happy to help. Call College Hill Dental Group today for a consultation.
