Emergency Dental Care

Our Wickford dentists will endeavour to see you as soon as possible when pain strikes

Teeth painIn today’s blog, we are going to take a look at dental emergencies; what they are and what you should do if you find yourself in that unfortunate situation. There are certainly quite a number of people who think that dental emergencies are only those where you are in very severe pain.

In fact, you may not even be in any discomfort at all for it to qualify as an ’emergency’, as we will explain a little later on.

At the Cygnet Dental Practice, we encourage our patients to attend their six monthly check ups. This will help to reduce the likelihood of urgent oral care being needed, but it won’t eliminate it altogether. Let us take a look then at what dental emergencies are and what you should do about them.

Painful emergencies

The most obvious type of emergency is when you are in a lot of pain. This could be from a toothache, a root canal infection or even an abscess. Equally you could have suffered a blow to the face, perhaps due to a fall, and damaged some teeth quite significantly. Naturally, if this should happen, you will want to see a dentist as soon as possible, and also, we want to see you as soon as we possibly can. Remember too that if you have received a blow to the head, you should have this checked at the A&E in case of any head injuries.

The most important thing that you should do is not delay contacting us. We ask that you call us as soon as you can, end especially as soon in the morning as you can during opening hours, and we will do our utmost to see you the same day. Where possible, we will give priority to emergencies of this sort and where this is not possible, we will be able to provide advice to help you keep as comfortable as you possibly can until we can see you for treatment.

Non painful emergencies

Whilst the above is daily self explanatory when it comes to emergency dental care, other problems that may require this are more of a ‘grey’ area. For example, if you notice that a tooth is causing you a little discomfort, perhaps a mild throbbing, you may not feel that it warrants ‘jumping the queue’ to get an appointment and that you can wait a period of time when your check up is due. This is the wrong approach to this or any other dental problem. The fact is that if you notice any discomfort or even that a tooth is chipped or cracked, you shouldn’t put off contacting our Wickford based clinic.

The truth is that the longer you leave a problem with your teeth or gums, the worse it is almost certainly going to get. In the case of some minor throbbing, it may well be that there is a small amount of decay which, with prompt treatment, can easily be removed and the tooth restored using a filling. Leaving a problem such as this for a period of time is likely to mean that the decay becomes more extensive and the chances are that, in a best case scenario, you will need to have a larger filling. It could be even more advanced than this though and you might require a crown or even to have the tooth extracted in some cases.

So, if you notice a problem with a tooth, don’t delay and call us today. Please don’t feel that you shouldn’t because it isn’t causing you much of a problem. Preventing further damage is important for the health of your teeth.

Even where there is no pain, you can be sure that we will see you as soon as we can. Yes, if someone is in tears with a painful toothache, we will usually give them priority appointments, but that doesn’t mean that you need to wait for a long time and we will see you for treatment as quickly as we possibly can.

Seeking prompt treatment is part of the preventative approach to oral health care that we believe in at the Cygnet Dental Practice. Whilst it is commonly thought that this relates to brushing, flossing and check ups, it also includes early intervention when a problem does arise so that the minimum of treatment is needed and, in the case of a filling, as much of the natural tooth is saved as possible.

If you have a problem which you think falls into this category, please contact us as soon as you can, letting us know the nature of the problem and any discomfort you are experiencing so that we can arrange an appointment for you as soon as we possibly can. Emergency and general dental appointments can be made by calling our Wickford clinic on 01268 733078.