Emergency Dentist Saves Palm Beach Gardens Smiles
Dental emergencies are stressful and painful. At Smile Solutions Dentistry, we’re the emergency dentist you can rely on. We are always here when you need us most during an emergency!
It’s easy to lose your cool when the unexpected happens to you or someone you love, but remaining calm is of the utmost importance. The best way to keep your cool during a dental emergency is to have a plan for seeking care and maintaining health. Dr. Nirav Patel invites patients to contact our team right away during a dental emergency. We’re happy to see patients from Palm Beach Gardens, The Acreage Community Park, and beyond. Emergency dentistry appointments are available!
Please don’t hesitate to contact our team, even if you experience dental pain or trauma outside of regular office hours.
Is It a True Emergency?
If you are unsure whether your condition is an emergency, we encourage you to go ahead and give us a call. We’ll be happy to talk you through some basic first aid and pain management tips, as well as make recommendations for follow-up care.
Some of the most common dental emergencies we treat include:
- Avulsed (knocked out) teeth
- Cracked, broken or fractured teeth
- Broken or lost temporaries or restorations
- Severe toothache, abscess
- Objects caught between teeth
- Damaged dentures or other dental prosthetics
- Soft tissue lacerations
- Facial trauma following an accident
In most cases, emergency dentist, Dr. Patel is able to treat people from the comfort of our practice, but there are some emergencies where the added safety of a hospital facility may be necessary. For patients experiencing severe facial trauma, blood loss, or a possibly broken jawbone, we encourage you to proceed to your nearest emergency room right away.
Your Next Steps After Emergency Care
What you do after a dental emergency can mean the difference in saving your tooth or not. Knocked out teeth that are not treated within two hours of loss, for example, usually cannot be reattached.
First, find and store any larger missing pieces. Rinse away any debris, but do not scrub a lost tooth. Avoid touching its root. Keeping the root moist is crucial, so store a knocked out tooth in a cup of milk or water.
If you are bleeding from the wound, apply firm but gentle pressure with a clean gauze or cloth. Rinse your mouth with warm salt water to soothe the area and prevent infection. Feel free to take an over-the-counter pain medication to reduce discomfort until you can reach our office. We may prescribe something stronger if you need it for recovery.
How We Treat Emergencies
Your treatment plan following a dental emergency will depend on your specific needs. Because emergencies come in all shapes and sizes, treatments vary -- but for the most part, we will get you out of pain and on with your life with the following procedures.
- Root canal therapy for a severely aching tooth
- Reattachment of a knocked out tooth when possible
- Placing a crown on a broken filling that cannot be repaired
- Removing foreign objects with special tools
- Closing lacerations in the soft tissues
Preventing Dental Emergencies
While you cannot ever completely protect yourself from a dental emergency, you can take some steps to help make sure your teeth and gums are protected from injury. First of all, visit your dentist every six months for a routine examination and hygiene appointment. When we can see your smile regularly, we can steer your smile clear of cavities, gum disease, and other health hazards. We also detect issues almost as soon as they develop to provide the most conservative treatment possible.
You should also make sure you wear a mouthguard if you play contact sports or grind your teeth at night. A customized sports guard protects your teeth, gums, and can even reduce the risk of concussion.
Second, kick back habits like nail biting and chewing on ice. Avoid opening packages with your teeth -- in short, always keep foreign objects away from your mouth.
Understanding the Cost of Emergency Dentistry
When you’re dealing with a broken, hurting, or knocked-out tooth, the last thing you want to be worried about is how much your treatment will cost. Because of the wide variety of possible incidents that could occur, we can’t provide an estimate for the cost of emergency dentistry until Dr. Patel has had the chance to examine your situation. Once he has developed a treatment plan, our team will review the associated fees and help you navigate your options for making the care your smile needs affordable.
Every Dental Emergency Is Different
Before we can determine how much your emergency dental care will cost, you’ll need to physically come into our office and have your mouth examined by Dr. Patel. Until that point, it’s impossible to predict the price of your treatment.
This initial visit with an emergency dentist is actually fairly inexpensive. After Dr. Patel has discovered the cause and extent of the damage, he’ll recommend a specific set of treatments designed to get your smile back on track. Don’t worry; we’ll make sure you’re out of pain before asking you to make any major financial decisions.
Does Dental Insurance Cover Dental Emergencies?
Dental insurance typically provides some coverage for emergency care. Many plans will cover one emergency exam per year if needed. Treatments that are commonly prescribed for hurting or damaged teeth (dental crowns, root canal therapy, etc.) often qualify for coverage at 50-80%, depending on the specific policy.
At Smile Solutions, we’re in-network with 17 major insurance providers, and we’re happy to file claims for PPO plans that are out-of-network. If you have dental insurance, chances are you can save by visiting us for your smile’s needs!
Other Ways We Make Dental Emergencies Affordable
If you don’t have the means to pay for your emergency dental care right away, or if you’re uninsured, ask us about affordable financing via Lending Club. We can help you apply for a payment plan through this third-party financier. These plans allow your treatment costs to be broken up into monthly chunks, with many options to choose from. Better yet, many of them come with little to no interest attached, making them easy to fit within your monthly budget.
Save Money by Taking Care of Your Smile
Of course, the easiest way to minimize your urgent dental care costs is to prevent dental emergencies from arising in the first place! While this isn’t always possible, you can take a few easy precautions to reduce your risk. By investing in a custom mouthguard, biannual dental checkups, and daily at-home oral hygiene, you could avoid hundreds if not thousands of dollars in emergency dental care over the course of your lifetime.
Dental Emergency FAQs
Dental emergencies always seem to come unexpected, so it’s understandable that you have some unanswered questions. Here are the answers to some of the most common queries we receive about dental emergencies. If you don’t see the information that you’re looking for below, don’t worry! Give us a call and we’d be happy to answer your questions and schedule you for an appointment as soon as possible.
Will my toothache go away on its own?
Toothaches do not typically go away on their own, so it is best to schedule a checkup with a dentist just to make sure nothing serious is going on. There are all sorts of potential causes for a toothache, so you’ll want to rule them out with a professional as soon as you can. By doing so, you can catch underlying problems before they become more serious.
How should I sleep with tooth pain?
It can be difficult to get quality sleep when you are suffering from a toothache. Until you are able to see an emergency dentist in the morning, keep your head elevated. This will prevent blood from rushing to your head and intensifying your toothache. You could also try taking an over-the-counter pain reliever as directed and/or use a cold compress to reduce pain. Avoid foods that are particularly hot, cold, or acidic right before bed.
Should I visit the emergency room first for dental emergencies?
Most emergency rooms are unable to address dental emergencies effectively, but there are a few exceptions. You should head directly to the emergency room if you have a fractured or broken jawbone, serious cut or laceration to the face or mouth, and an abscess or infection that’s swollen to the point of affecting breathing or swallowing. In virtually all other circumstances, you should head to an emergency dentist for treatment.
Should knocked-out teeth be placed in water?
Water can be used to rinse a knocked-out tooth, but the tooth should not be placed in water. This is because water can damage the root surface cells of the teeth, making it less likely that your dentist will be able to successfully place it back into the socket. If your tooth has been knocked out, do your best to place it back into the open socket. If you are unable to do so, keep it in saliva, milk, or a saline solution for up to an hour as you seek emergency dental care.
Get In Touch With Us ASAP!
Have you or someone you love just experienced dental trauma? Call our team as soon as you have the opportunity, and we will be happy to help you with any dental reconstruction once we’re sure your health and safety are cared for.