Even with the best preventative care available, dental emergencies can happen. Whether you’re involved in an accident or your child has a terrible toothache – it’s more than just pain that can have you worried. Knowing when and where you can be seen in the event of a dental emergency will go a long way towards mitigating the stress that can come with it.
If you and your family already use Dental Depot, great. Keep our phone number handy in your phone or wallet, and know what hours your location is open. If you are a new patient to our practice, welcome. You can find which of our offices is nearest to you using our find my location tool, as well as check their hours.
If your dental emergency occurs overnight on a weeknight, please contact our office as early as possible. If you call ahead, our team will find the soonest time for you to be seen in the schedule that day, but keep reading to understand what will occur during your same-day visit. Many of our offices also offer Saturday appointments between 8:00am and 2:00pm, but if your emergency occurs late Saturday or on Sunday, the soonest we will be able to see you is 8:00am Monday morning.
The important thing to keep in mind when it comes to a dental emergency of any kind is to not panic. Ailments like an infection, cracked tooth or tooth loss, can be altogether painful, but there are steps that can be taken to lessen the pain until you’re able to see a dentist.
Facial Trauma – Any sort of physical trauma to the face. Facial trauma can lead to a variety of ailments such as lacerations, bruises and fractures to the teeth and gums.
Cracked Tooth – a very common dental condition where a crack develops into the tooth and can cause pain and eventually lead to a fracture.
Tooth Loss – When one or more teeth comes loose or falls out altogether, in adults this is typically undesired and caused by disease or trauma.
Infection or Abscess – Dental abscesses are usually cause by a bacterial infection that has developed in the pulp of your tooth. Bacteria lives in plaque, so if plaque is left on the teeth and not cleared away by brushing and flossing, the plaque can spread to the gums and become an abscess.
Filling or Crown Loss – A lost crown or filling is rarely an emergency, but it can cause discomfort and pain due to the exposed sensitive tooth tissue.
General Tooth and Mouth Pain – It is not normal for your mouth or teeth to feel any kind of persisting pain as an adult, its natural state is for you to not really feel any discomfort at all. So if you are feeling any sort of nagging or persistent discomfort or pain you should schedule an appointment to be examined as soon as possible.
Dental emergencies require immediate treatment. Examples of dental emergencies include:
Urgent dental injuries can be treated the following day or as soon as possible, and may include:
If you aren’t sure whether your situation is a dental emergency or urgent dental injury, call the experienced office staff at Dental Depot Oklahoma. With emergency services, Saturday appointments, and flexible scheduling at many of our locations, we will ensure you get the most appropriate and timely care possible for your situation.
The best way to aid dental emergencies is to take the proper steps to avoid them from occurring all together.
If you have a dental emergency, time is of the essence, and, in some cases, can mean the difference between saving a tooth or not. Generally speaking, your first priority should be to stop any bleeding and preserve any teeth or pieces of teeth that may have fallen out. If you are experiencing pain, you can apply ice externally and consider taking pain relievers as long as you are able to do so. Then, you or a loved one should find the nearest provider for emergency dental care.
If you have a dental emergency, call Dental Depot Oklahoma as soon as you can and our experienced office staff can help direct you to treatment and walk you through what to do until you can be seen. At Dental Depot, all patients who are experiencing a dental emergency will be seen the same day.
If you have a dental emergency, where you need to go first will depend on whether or not you have another medical emergency. Things like excessive bleeding or significant blood loss, concussions, and significant facial trauma take precedence over any damage to your teeth or mouth, and require medical help from a hospital emergency room. From there, if you need additional treatment for dental or oral damage, you can be referred to a dentist.
If your dental emergency is strictly dental-related, however, you can call a dental provider like Dental Depot Oklahoma to find the nearest location for emergency dental services. Dental emergencies tend to be time sensitive concerns that benefit from an immediate response.
If you have never been seen at our office before, you will need a state-issued photo ID and your insurance information (if you won’t be using insurance, just let us know). If the patient is a minor and does not have a photo ID, a parent or guardian must provide their photo ID.
A dental emergency has occurred and you’ve decided to call ahead to find a good time to seen as a same-day appointment. Our team will help you find the best possible time to come in with the shortest wait, but because emergencies are worked into the schedule, you may still experience some wait time. If you choose to walk-in to our practice, our teams will communicate with you about what kind of wait you should anticipate.
If you see other patients being called back before you who may have arrived after – you haven’t been skipped over. Each of our offices has multiple dentists and hygienists who work on different teams and at different paces. We will do our best to help keep you comfortable while you wait and to inform you of how long we think it will be until you’re seen.
Emergency appointments will be seen same-day to address the immediate problems your emergency presents. We want patients to leave our offices comfortable and out of pain, and are committed to doing as much as we are able to ensure this. Depending on the nature of your emergency, we may be able to resolve the problem at your initial appointment, or help you to get scheduled back for treatment in the case of an abscess or infection.
Dental emergencies demand immediate care, and you should never have to forego the treatment you need because of inability to pay. Even if you don’t have insurance, Dental Depot Oklahoma will help you get the treatment you need at a commonsense price for self-pay patients. We are committed to your dental health and proud to offer high-quality, affordable care for all of our patients, even if that care is last-minute and unexpected.
While painful, neither a cavity nor a root canal is a dental emergency, but they should be treated as soon as possible. They will not heal on their own, and, if left untreated, cavities and root canals can progress into bigger problems like dental abscesses or infection that spreads into the gums and jaw. If you have a cavity or root canal that needs treatment, schedule an appointment with one of our dentists at Dental Depot Oklahoma.