There’s not much that is more excruciating than a dental issue. Most dental issues can wait until you can get a regular appointment- but there are some situations that need to be addressed immediately. At Peak Dental Group in Calgary, we understand that a dental emergency can strike at any time.
Many of our patients hesitate to seek emergency treatment because they’re unsure of what constitutes an emergency. If you have severe pain, a fever, swelling, and/or uncontrollable bleeding, you need emergency dental care. Some situations can escalate quickly and become life-threatening.
Therefore, if you are experiencing a dental emergency, contact our office right away- even if it’s not during regular office hours. We will help you get the treatment you need to address your dental concerns. After all, it is better to be safe than sorry. Even if it’s not an emergency, seeking treatment early can help you prevent an emergency in the future.
According to the American Dental Association, a dental emergency is a situation that is potentially life-threatening that requires immediate attention to stop ongoing bleeding or alleviate severe infection and/or pain. Some of the most common dental emergencies we encounter at Peak Dental Group include:
A toothache, no matter how mild, should never be taken lightly. This is your body’s way of letting you know that something isn’t quite right in your mouth. If you are experiencing sudden, unexplainable tooth pain, you need to seek dental treatment as soon as possible.
Tooth/gum sensitivity can be mild to severe. If accompanied by fever, bleeding, and/or swelling, you should contact our office as soon as possible to seek emergency dental treatment. You may have an infection/abscess that needs to be treated quickly to keep it from spreading.
Trauma is most often the cause of chipped/broken/loose teeth. A minor chip/break in a tooth is typically a simple cosmetic issue and doesn’t warrant emergency treatment. On the other hand, a large crack or break is something to worry about. A broken tooth can be painful because the pulp is exposed. A large crack allows decay to get into the pulp, causing an infection and requiring a root canal. If you have a large crack or break, you need emergency treatment.
If you have a tooth that has come out or been knocked out, it’s important to address it right away. In some cases, the tooth can be reinserted and saved, as long as you act quickly. First, you’ll need to recover the tooth without touching the root and carefully rinse it off. If you can, place the tooth back in the socket. If not, place it in a container of milk or hold it between your cheek and gums. To increase your chances of saving the too, get to the dentist within 30 minutes.
If you have sudden, unexplained, uncontrollable bleeding in your mouth, you should consider it a dental emergency and contact our office right away. We will get you in so that we can do an examination and take x-rays to determine the cause and the best course of action.
Gum inflammation/swelling can have many causes. As a general rule, gum irritation/inflammation is not considered an emergency- but if you have bleeding with pain and swelling, you may have an underlying issue. You should never have unexplainable bleeding, swelling, or inflammation in your gums. If you do, you need to seek emergency dental treatment.
If you experience trauma to your face, even if you don’t have any visible dental issues, it’s important to schedule an appointment as soon as you can. While not a critical emergency, we do need to check for any underlying issues so that you don’t face something more serious in the future.
If your crown is loose, broken, or comes off, it’s important to address it quickly to keep debris and bacteria from collecting in the affected tooth.
If you lose a filling, it is not a life-threatening emergency, but you will need to have it replaced soon. If you don’t, you risk debris/bacteria collecting in the tooth, causing further decay and potentially causing additional oral and overall health issues.
Broken braces are not necessarily an emergency, unless they are causing pain. If your braces break and you are not in pain, you can wait for regular office hours to schedule an appointment to have them fixed. If you are in pain, you will want to have them fixed as soon as you can.
A broken permanent retainer isn’t really a dental emergency, but don’t wait too long to have it replaced. If you don’t replace it, you risk your teeth shifting back into their original positions, which completely negates the orthodontic treatment you went through to straighten them.
Any dental abscess or infection is considered an emergency since it’s hard to predict how it will spread. Any unexplained swelling in your gums, whether accompanied by pain or not, should be addressed. The primary goal of treatment will be to stop the infection, which will typically involve a prescription antibiotic. If you have a severe abscess, you may need to have the site drained to relieve pain and pressure.
An abscessed tooth is always an emergency. You should never try to pop and drain an abscess at home, as that could cause further complications. Only a dentist can safely drain the pus out and treat the infection.
Dental veneers are fairly durable and should last for a long time. However, they may break if you do not take proper care of them. If this happens, you should seek emergency dental treatment because the teeth under the veneer are vulnerable to bacteria and infection.
If you have a broken dental bridge it’s important to determine the cause. In most cases, a broken bridge means that the abutment teeth have broken. This must be addressed as soon as possible to prevent additional issues.
While broken dentures are not necessarily a life-threatening emergency, not having them can make life much more complicated. After all, dentures restore your ability to speak clearly, smile, laugh, and enjoy your favorite foods. Therefore, you will want to seek emergency dental treatment.
If you have sudden, unexplained, uncontrollable oral pain, you’ll want to seek emergency dental treatment. Pain in your mouth is your body’s way of alerting you that there is something not right. The best way to determine the cause of the pain and make it go away is with emergency dental treatment.
At Peak Dental Group, when you come in for a dental emergency, your treatment will be a priority. If your pain is severe, we will get you in the dental chair as soon as possible but if your pain is manageable, you may have to wait a bit.
We will start by examining your mouth and taking x-rays to determine the best course of treatment. From there, we will explain what is happening in your mouth and our recommendations. Our office staff will contact your insurance provider to determine coverage and we will proceed with treatment.
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At Peak Dental Group in Calgary, our dentists have experience treating a variety of dental emergencies. Dr. Sammy Gill, Dr. Gurshant Grewal, and Dr. Lana Huynh will help you understand what you are dealing with and the best way to address it. We strive to make our patients feel comfortable at all times. We believe that dental care should not cause anxiety.
If you are having what you believe to be a dental emergency, contact our office as soon as possible.
Our patients are our #1 priority at Peak Dental Group. We strive to make sure that you understand your situation and the appropriate treatments and are happy to address any and all of your questions or concerns. Some of the most common questions we hear about dental emergencies include:
