Where would you go if you found yourself with a knocked-out tooth or intense toothache? While you should seek urgent care, visiting your local ER for a dental emergency can cost you unnecessary time, money, and grief. In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, it’s more important than ever to know where to go when your smile needs immediate help. Here are four reasons why you should avoid the ER and call your Orlando Emergency Dentist first if you have a scary situation with your smile in quarantine.
1.) YOU’RE LESS LIKELY TO GET SICK AT A DENTAL PRACTICE
While ER and dental staff are working tirelessly to keep their practices clean, the best way to protect yourself from COVID-19 is to limit your contact with other people. Far fewer potentially sick people will be seeking care from your dentist than from your local ER. Getting care from a less-trafficked area lowers your risk of getting sick.
2.) YOU’LL SPEND LESS TIME AT YOUR DENTIST’S OFFICE
A wide variety of pressing health issues that require immediate attention are treated at ERs. However, your dentist is only treating emergency situations that concern your teeth, gums, and mouth. It’s very likely that your dentist will be able to see you much sooner than a busy ER doctor or nurse.
3.) YOU WON’T BE CONTRIBUTING TO OVERCROWDED ERS
Since COVID-19 is extremely contagious and can quickly become life-threatening, there has been a sizable influx of people seeking immediate care. This increase of COVID-19 patients alongside all the everyday medical emergencies has put a tremendous strain on medical practices and filled them to capacity. Taking your dental emergency to your dentist frees up the valuable time and effort of medical staff who could be treating these patients.
4.) YOU’LL GET THE SPECIALIZED DENTAL CARE YOU NEED
Not every ER has a dentist on staff who can perform emergency dental procedures like root canals or tooth extractions. On the other hand, your Orlando emergency dentist is fully equipped with all the training, experience, and technology needed to restore your oral health and repair your smile.
WHAT COUNTS AS A DENTAL EMERGENCY?
Unless you are having difficulty breathing or swallowing, you should call your dentist for:
- Broken or fractured teeth
- Uncontrollable bleeding in the mouth
- A knocked-out or partially dislodged permanent tooth
- An intense toothache
- Toothache accompanied by fever, fatigue, or swelling in the face, jaw, or neck
We should all be doing everything we can to prevent dental emergencies, especially now. However, if you do need urgent dental treatment during COVID-19, skip the ER and call your dentist instead!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
At Sand Lake Dental in Orlando, FL, the health and safety of our patients, staff, and community is our top priority. To ensure that you can receive the best emergency dental care in these unusual times, we are committed to meeting the highest standards of infection control and sanitation. Following the recommendations laid out by the American Dental Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we have incorporated 30 Additional Steps to our already rigorous disinfecting practices. If you are experiencing a dental emergency, don’t hesitate to contact us via our Website or at (407) 255-2391.
