Emergency Dentist 24/7 Orlando, FL

Your dental health is important. Therefore, if you experience a dental emergency, you should act promptly rather than wait until the next business day. Making the choice to act fast can be the difference between optimal dental health and serious complications later. Do not let your dental emergency disrupt your life; instead, contact the Emergency Dental Service today.

There are dentists open on weekends in Orlando, Florida, that can assess, diagnose, and resolve your emergency dental issue. Whether you are having a serious toothache or are experiencing gum pain, you can walk away knowing you are in good hands.

Dental Care Emergency: What It Is

Before you rush into an emergency dental office or call and schedule an appointment, it is important to be clear about what constitutes a dental emergency. Understanding the difference between an emergency and a non-emergency can save you time and money. Specifically, dental emergencies include:

• A toothache that doesn’t subside with medications
• Severely swollen or bleeding gums
• Broken or cracked teeth
• Teeth that have been knocked out
• Broken, cracked, or damaged dental restorations
• Lacerations in the mouth

A broken tooth may not seem like an emergency, but if it gets progressively loosened, it can cause permanent damage. Therefore, you should contact an emergency if this happens to you as well as the other symptoms. However, if you have doubts, contact an emergency dentist anyway, as it is better to be safe than sorry.

When to Go to Schedule a Regular Appointment

Under certain circumstances, you can save yourself a trip to an emergency dentist and schedule a regular appointment instead. While these situations can be annoying and uncomfortable, they may not be life-threatening like a dental emergency can be. The following symptoms can wait until Monday or the next business day:

• Dull tooth pain
• If your child has a loose tooth
• Small cracks in your tooth
• An item stuck in between your teeth
• Small cut or sore in the mouth
• Certain damage to braces

In these situations, home treatment may help ease your symptoms before you can get in and see your dentist. Sometimes, taking medication, using an oral gel, a cold compress, or flossing can help your situation. However, you should still inform your dentist of these issues so they can assess the underlying causes.

Common Causes of Dental Emergencies

Most dental emergencies are unexpected such as getting hit in your mouth and having your tooth knocked out or a toothache that seemingly comes out of nowhere. In other cases, dental emergencies result from neglected dental hygiene or treatment. Whatever the case, you should understand what caused your dental issue to avoid it in the future. The list below highlights several common causes of dental emergencies.

• Untreated gum disease
• Untreated cavities
• Untreated abscess
• Erupted wisdom teeth
• Alveolar Osteitis
• Damage to adjacent teeth
• Nerve damage
• Severely broken braces
• Trauma
• Sports accidents
• Jaw stiffness
• Improperly placed dentures or implants
• Underlying health conditions

Most of these dental emergencies happen unexpectedly, no matter how hard you try and plan. A slip-and-fall accident can lead to a knocked-out tooth just as quickly as a foul in a basketball game can. If your tooth is knocked out because of any form of trauma, your dentist may want you to try and preserve the tooth, ideally in your mouth. This is why it is important to see a dentist quickly, as preserving the tooth in your mouth can only last so long.

Another common unexpected dental emergency is a sudden toothache. You may be eating your favorite food, and all of a sudden, your mouth becomes unbearably painful. While sometimes this can occur because of another dental problem like a cracked tooth, other times it may occur because of neglected dental care. Putting off a cavity filling or root canal too long, for example, can lead to the throbbing pain that signals a dental emergency.

Post-operational dental procedures may also be cause for an emergency. For example, your crown may come loose, braces may come off, or implants may fall out. These are all out of your control but are still dental emergencies. While you may not anticipate any of these happening, you can do something to fix it.

Finally, there are certain medical conditions that can cause dental issues. The human body is interconnected, so conditions like diabetes or kidney disease can lead to gum disease or other dental issues. For example, diabetes can change the glucose level in your saliva and change your saliva overall. Your saliva works to cleanse your mouth from harmful bacteria, and when not working properly, dental issues may arise.

How to Avoid a Dental Emergency

If you are having a weekend dental emergency now, it is wise to see a dentist right away; however, there are certain things you can do to prevent these emergencies from happening in the future. A dental emergency can be scary, life-interfering, and even life-threatening in certain situations, so you should avoid them if you can. Here are easy ways you can prevent dental emergencies and maintain optimal dental health:

• Brush your teeth daily and floss after each meal to prevent plaque buildup and maintain oral health.
• Make sure children see a dentist at least once a year or twice a year. A yearly dental check-up can help identify minor issues before they become larger ones.
• Always wear protective gear if you are playing sports, riding a bike, or engaging in high-impact activities.
• Maintain a balanced, healthy diet and avoid excessive sugar intake to promote excellent dental health.
• Be sure to clean and maintain dentures, implants, and other restorative dental care, such as braces.
• If you are pregnant, your hormones can impact your dental health, which is why your gums are often more sore than usual during pregnancy. Be sure to floss regularly and gently and see your dentist before giving birth.

Consequences of Avoiding an Emergency Dentist

Avoiding an emergency dentist can have serious implications. This is because certain problems have underlying causes that can worsen if you wait to treat them. The following consequences may come with avoiding contacting your emergency dentist, and they are not limited to the embarrassment that comes with a missing tooth:

• This is probably the most serious consequence, as an infection in your mouth can easily travel to other areas of your body, causing serious complications. Therefore, it is better to treat any oral infection quickly.
  
• Exacerbate existing health conditions. As mentioned, diabetes and kidney disease are often linked to oral health issues. Likewise, an oral health issue can also exacerbate symptoms of these health conditions.
  
• Unrelenting dental pain. If you avoid getting certain dental issues resolved immediately, you may be left with serious pain that does not go away without treatment. This can greatly interfere with your daily life, including eating, drinking, speaking, and even sleeping.
  
• Permanent tooth loss. Another serious consequence of waiting to treat a dental emergency is the risk of permanent tooth loss. A damaged tooth today can turn into permanent tooth loss if you fail to get it immediately extracted.
  
• Permanent bone or tissue damage. Some dental emergencies impact bone or tissue health as well as the actual tooth. Therefore, neglecting treatment can lead to permanent damage.
  
• Social isolation. It can be quite embarrassing to show up to work or a job interview on Monday because you neglected to contact a dentist open on Saturday or Sunday. Not only that, having a knocked-out tooth can be socially isolating and emotionally stressful.

Emergency Room vs. Dental Emergency Room

A medical emergency and a dental emergency have equal importance, but they are not the same. If you walk into an emergency room (ER), the ER doctor may be able to treat your immediate symptoms, such as stopping any bleeding or providing medication to ease your pain. However, they would not be able to repair the broken or knocked-out tooth that caused the bleeding in the first place. This is because, typically, ERs are not equipped with the same dental equipment that a dentist's office is.

On the other hand, your emergency dentist will not only be able to stop the bleeding pain and administer antibiotics for infections, but they can also fix your dental issue. This way, you do not have to make two stops: one to the ER and one to the dentist. Your weekend dentist or emergency can handle both problems simultaneously.

An emergency dentist's office may also provide a health assessment and X-rays if they are needed to provide a diagnosis or determine the root problem. You can expect shorter wait times just as at the ER, especially if your issue is life-threatening.

Orlando, Florida Contemporary Dental Care Services

At Orlando, Florida Contemporary Dental Care, we provide a host of emergency dental services. With our skilled providers, you do not have to wait until Monday for your weekend dental emergency. The Emergency Dental Service can get you in contact with a weekend dentist near you so that your issue is treated with competence and care. The most common emergency procedures we provide are as follows:

• Tooth extractions. Some teeth simply need to be pulled out right away. If you are experiencing a severe toothache, have an infection, or have a damaged or severely decayed tooth, it may need to be extracted promptly. Keeping a broken or damaged tooth in your mouth may also increase the risk of aspiration, so it is wise to get it extracted sooner rather than later.
  
• Emergency root canal. If you suddenly experience sensitivity to cold or hot drinks or if you experience throbbing pain, you may need a root canal. A root canal is a procedure that is needed when the pulp in your tooth becomes inflamed. In the procedure, your dentist will remove the infection, clean your tooth, and seal it to prevent further damage.
  
• Cavity fillings. A cavity filling may be a routine procedure you can schedule at your dentist visit, or it can be a serious emergency. A cavity is a tiny hole inside your tooth that may need to be filled with a silver or tooth-colored material. If your existing cavity falls out or if your cavity is causing excruciating pain, you may require an emergency cavity filling.
  
• Dental abscess treatment. An abscess is a dental emergency that could easily become a medical emergency if not treated immediately. An abscess is a pus-filled pocket around your tooth that is caused by a bacterial infection resulting from untreated gum disease or tooth decay. The procedure involves draining the abscess, being administered antibiotics, and treating the root cause.
  
• Dental crown repairs. If your tooth is seriously decayed, you may require a dental crown to restore its strength. A dental crown is a small cap placed over a damaged tooth. While they are typically solid and strong, sometimes they may break from normal wear and tear or fall off. You do not want to leave your damaged teeth exposed, so it is important to get your crown repaired immediately if this occurs.
  
• Denture repairs. If you wear dentures, which are artificial teeth with the composition and effectiveness of natural teeth, you should maintain them just as you would your original teeth. However, in some cases, they still can break or crack, deeming them not useful. It is important not to delay repairing your dentures so that you can go about eating, drinking, and speaking normally.
  
• Dental implant repairs. Similar to dentures, dental implants are artificial teeth, but they are installed in your jaw and are more permanent and stable than dentures. However, just like dentures, dental implants may require repair every now and then. If your repair is an emergency, you should not delay treatment but rather get it fixed immediately.

Contact a Weekend Emergency Dentist Today

If you are experiencing a dental emergency, you may be wondering if dentists are open on weekends? The Emergency Dental Service is a reliable resource that can help you locate an emergency dentist in your area on the weekend. We have dentists open on Saturdays and Sundays who can take care of your emergency dental needs, so you don’t have to wait until Monday.