What Is Emergency Dentistry?

Emergency dentistry can immediately help when you need assistance with an oral health problem. You should seek emergency dental care whenever your discomfort is severe enough to keep you from eating, sleeping, or relaxing.

Causes of Dental Emergencies

Car accidents, sports accidents, falls and blows to the face frequently cause oral trauma. You may be more likely to experience dental trauma if you do not wear a mouthguard during active sports.

Poor dental hygiene or neglecting regular checkups can also cause dental emergencies. If you regularly put off dental care and wait until your discomfort has turned severe, you may put yourself in a bind when it is time to see the dentist.

Tooth and gum infections are frequent reasons why patients need emergency dental care. These infections may happen due to a broken tooth or the cumulative lack of oral hygiene.

When To Visit The Emergency Room First

While your emergency dentist can help you with many oral health issues, there are situations where you should seek emergency medical care before calling us. These situations include, but are not limited to:

• Broken facial bones
• Heavy or uncontrollable oral bleeding
• Severe facial lacerations
• Signs of an infection that has spread to the body include high fever and chills.

After your medical emergency has stabilized, you can call our office for dental care.

Situations Considered Dental Emergencies

• Broken, damaged, or cracked natural tooth
• Swollen gums causing discomfort
• Pimple on the gums
• Knocked-out or dislodged permanent tooth
• Lost crown or filling if causing severe di
• Severe toothache
• Broken denture
• Dental infection symptoms (fever, swelling, chills) that could indicate an abscess

Emergency Procedures We Offer

• Root Canals: If you suffer from extreme tooth pain that worsens with pressure, heat, or cold, you may need a root canal. We offer prompt root canal appointments to ease your discomfort and potentially save your natural tooth from extraction.
• Broken Teeth: Call us immediately if you break a tooth beyond a simple chip. A fractured tooth can expose the pulp chamber and the nerve, leading to infection and the need for a root canal. You may also need to have the tooth extracted.
• Dislodged Teeth: A dislodged tooth may be partially knocked from its socket. See us for emergency care to determine whether the tooth has sustained damage.
• Knocked-Out Teeth: If your tooth completely separates from your gum and jawbone, we may be able to save it if you see us promptly. Save the tooth and rinse it gently, holding it only by the crown since the root cells are delicate. Place it back in the socket if possible; otherwise, carry it to the dentist in a cup of milk or saliva. We have the best chance of saving your tooth within an hour but do not give up hope after an hour has passed.
• Extractions: We can easily extract compromised teeth in the office.
• Abscess Treatment: If you have pimples on your gums, swollen gums, fever, or chills, you may have a dental abscess. An abscess is a tooth, gum, or bone infection. See us immediately for treatment.

Home First Aid for Dental Emergencies

If you have a toothache or other dental issue, here are some home care tips that may help while you wait for emergency care.

1. Use a warm salt water rinse.
2. Floss the teeth gently to determine whether stuck food could be causing your pain.
3. Put a cold or warm compress on the outside of your cheek.
4. Take over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication.

Frequently Asked Questions About Emergency Dentistry

What is generally not considered a dental emergency?

These problems indicate that you should call us for an appointment but do not constitute a dental emergency:

• Chipped tooth
• Dull toothache
• Lost filling, crown, or bridge unless causing severe pain

If my child loses a baby tooth, can you replant it?

Dentists are not able to replant primary teeth. Putting these teeth back in the socket could damage the permanent tooth beneath the gumline. In addition, the root structure of the primary tooth would not allow replanting.

Call Fort Collins Dental Center

Sometimes, dental care can't wait. It is wise to find an emergency dentist and keep their number before you call.

If you are in the Fort Collins area and need emergency dental care, please call our office at 970-482-1477. We can evaluate your issue over the phone and schedule a prompt appointment.