At Lovett Dental Sugar Land, our dedicated team performs emergency dental services to ensure the health and welfare of our clients in Houston, TX, and the surrounding areas. After all, emergencies happen. But sometimes we get asked, what is a dental emergency?
If you aren’t sure whether your condition qualifies as an emergency, give our office a call at 281-759-5900 if you’re having a dental problem to find out. In the meantime, you can learn more about dental emergencies and urgent care below.
What Is a Dental Emergency?
A dental emergency poses a threat to your life and includes procedures to stop tissue bleeding and severe pain. These instances can be caused by car accidents, sports injuries, and by anything causing damage to your oral health. Even a sudden cracked tooth from a hard candy can cause enough pain to warrant emergency services.
Examples of dental emergencies requiring immediate treatment include:
- Uncontrolled bleeding
- Cellulitis or bacterial infection with swelling that interferes with your breathing
- Trauma to facial bones that make it difficult to breathe
As you can see, these are only a few examples of dental emergencies. Mild problems can be addressed during normal general dentistry visits. However, we also offer urgent care at the dentist’s discretion.
What Constitutes Urgent Dental Care?
Urgent care involves conditions that need swift attention to alleviate severe pain and prevent infection. We treat urgent care cases to keep hospital emergency rooms open for other health care emergencies. While treating urgent care cases, our dentists use the least invasive procedure possible — to protect you, our other patients, and staff members.
If you aren’t sure whether you qualify for urgent dental care, please call us before going to the emergency room. So, what is a dental emergency versus urgent care?
Examples of dental urgent care treatment include:
- Pulpal inflammation and pain
- Pericoronitis or third-molar pain (impacted wisdom tooth)
- Post-operative osteitis (dry socket dressing following tooth extraction)
- Abscess or bacterial infection
- Tooth fracture with pain and soft tissue trauma
- Dental trauma with lost or displaced tooth
Urgent procedures also include treatment needed to proceed with a medical process and biopsies on abnormal oral tissue. We can also see patients for the final crown setting is the temporary crown breaks or irritates the gums.
Other Procedures that May Qualify for Urgent Care
Whether a procedure continues an emergency or urgent care scenario is sometimes a subjective decision. So, what is a dental emergency or urgent care procedure? If you are in pain or in danger of infection, we will likely want to see you. For example, if you have extensive cavities or defective restorations that cause you a great deal of pain, we can help.
Other procedures you can get through urgent dental care include:
- Suture removal
- Dental adjustment for oncology patients
- Dental adjustments to avoid impeding function
- Replacement of temporary fillings that cause pain
You can also get an appointment if you have braces and the wire or braces are cutting or puncturing the lining of your mouth.
Emergency Dental Care in Houston, TX
At Lovett Dental Sugar Land, we provide preventative, cosmetic, and emergency services for the whole family. After all, many common dental problems can be prevented with routine dental care.
Our wide range of services at our office include:
- Teeth cleaning
- Dental fillings and sealants
- Teeth whitening services
- Dental implants
- Gingivitis treatment
- Oral cancer screening
If you need emergency or urgent dental care, give us a call at 281-759-5900 now to be seen by a dentist immediately. We serve clients in Houston, Texas, and the surrounding area. Life’s tough enough without putting off critical dental treatment that can prevent worse oral health issues.
