No one wakes up in the morning expecting to be involved in an accident or have a dental emergency. However, life is so unpredictable that you may be having the time of your life, and the next thing you know, you need an emergency dentist in Portland.
As is the case with other medical emergencies, dental emergencies are time-sensitive. That’s why you will always need to know an emergency dentist that you can dash to if a disaster strikes. Every minute counts; the last thing you need is to find out where you can go to seek help.
How Will Our Emergency Dentist Help You?
You must be wondering if you need to visit our emergency dentist in Portland, OR, or if you can simply wait for your regular dental appointment with your general dentist. Remember, a dental emergency is time-sensitive, and you need a dentist to care for you within an hour or less.
In any case, this is what you can expect our emergency dentist to do for you:
- Alleviate Pain
All dental emergencies will involve some level of pain and discomfort, be it sudden toothaches, broken teeth, or a chipped tooth. At times the pain can radiate from the affected area to surrounding parts of the mouth. In this case, the first step our Portland dentist will take will be to reduce the pain by administering local anesthesia.
Alleviating pain allows you to relax and gives our dentist a chance to deal with your dental emergency.
- Deal With the Root Cause of the Pain and Inflammation
Remember, anesthetics are only fast-acting temporary solutions to dealing with the pain. However, our dentist has to get to the root cause to ensure that whatever is causing the pain is treated.
Once the sedatives and painkillers wear off and the underlying issue hasn’t been dealt with, you will return to the dentist’s chair. So, the main goal is to treat the underlying issue within the shortest time available.
- Save Affected Teeth
When lost fillings, and severely damaged or loose tooth, is the cause of your dental emergency, our dentist can focus on saving your tooth. Good dentists know every tooth’s importance, so no tooth will be discarded or regarded as unimportant.
This is also true when you have a knocked-out tooth. If you can reach our dental offices in Portland within 30 minutes, then there is a high chance that our dentist can reinsert the tooth.
Our dentist can remove the decayed part and save the tooth in case of tooth decay. The priority is always to save the tooth. The only instance when our emergency dentist can recommend a tooth extraction is when the tooth is severely damaged, and even a dental restoration such as a crown cannot be used to restore the tooth. Just know that our dentist will do whatever it takes to save a tooth.
- Treat Tooth Infections
You can be in a dental emergency because of an infection in the oral cavity. The infection can worsen and cause debilitating pain when you don’t get treatment. The most prevalent dental infections might include gum infections (gingivitis), cavities, and infections of the gums over partially erupted teeth.
Our dentist will administer antibiotics and other medications and perform a procedure such as root canals to remove the infection.
- Prevent Further Complications
Our dentist will not only deal with the issue at hand but also prevent further complications. Even after treatment, the dental issues that brought you to our office have to be regularly monitored. If our dentist doesn’t check from time to time, then the issue will recur.
Dental emergencies, if not treated in time, will progress and might cause complications that can be harder and more expensive to treat. Therefore, visiting our emergency will help prevent further complications from the dental emergency.
When Do You Need to Visit Our Emergency Dentist?
You need to distinguish between dental emergencies and non-emergencies. Certain issues, such as tooth sensitivity, might not necessarily constitute a dental emergency; however, the intensity and frequency will determine the underlying cause. In this case, you need to ask yourself the following questions:
- Is the pain unbearable, and can it not be managed using pain medication?
- Is the bleeding not stopping even after first aid?
- Is there a metallic taste and foul breath in my mouth? Do I have a fever? Are my gums swollen?
- Is the tooth broken, fractured, or knocked out?
The answers to the above questions will determine whether you are in a dental emergency. But if you are in doubt, we are always here to help you; contact us at Pham Dental to talk to our dentist or schedule a dental appointment.