Three Reasons To Call Your Emergency Dentist

After many years of serving patients with dentistry services in the Raleigh, NC area, we have become accustomed to the fact that people typically avoid calling their dentist as long as possible. Even when they start to notice redness and swelling in their gums, unmistakable signs of a progressing periodontal infection, some people will just hope for the best and ignore the pain as long as they can. When they do call us and set up an appointment, we do our very best to give them relief from the pain as quickly as possible and figure out what the next steps should be in order to resolve the issue permanently. Things go much better, however, when our patients make an appointment as soon as the warning signs appear! Here are three good reasons to call your emergency dentist in Raleigh:

An Injured Tooth

When we think of minor injuries to our skin or fingernails, we are used to just waiting for them to heal up, maybe with the help of bandages or other first-aid supplies. But an injury to a tooth is different. Teeth do not continue to grow once they reach their adult size, and a chip or crack in a tooth will continue to be a problem permanently. If something happens to break one of your teeth or push it dramatically out of alignment with its neighbors, you will want to get into your dentist’s office as soon as possible. Not only will the injury continue to cause you pain, but it will also allow harmful particles to make their way into the sensitive pulp of your tooth, or into your gums if the injury has exposed them. Getting your tooth repaired or extracted and replaced with an implant will help the rest of your mouth stay in good health.

Gum Infections

We try to spread the word as much as we can: gum infections don’t always show outward symptoms until they have progressed quite far below the surface. That’s one of the main reasons to have regular dental exams, giving your dentist the chance to spot any problem spots before they become serious. That being said, if you do start to notice that your gums are swollen, bleeding, or weak, you have an urgent need to see your emergency dentist in Raleigh, NC as soon as you can. Your dentist will examine the infection, see how far it has spread, and explain to you what measures are necessary to restore your good health and preserve your teeth.

Abscessed Tooth

An abscessed tooth—also called a “tooth abscess”—is a painful condition that results from the dental pulp inside the tooth becoming infected. As mentioned earlier, this can happen when an injury removes part of the protective enamel on the outside of the tooth and allows harmful particles inside. A tooth abscess can also happen when a cavity is left untreated. This condition is nearly always very painful, and it is essential to get it resolved quickly in order to get back to “normal life” with any level of comfort!

With all of these dental problems, but particularly with a tooth abscess, it is sometimes necessary to tackle the issue in multiple stages. First, your dentist stabilizes the situation, administering pain medications and sometimes putting a temporary solution in place to ward off infection for a short period of time. After that, your dentist may perform a root canal procedure to remove infected pulp, extract a “dead” tooth and replace it with a prosthesis, or refer you to an oral surgeon that he trusts if more specialized treatment is necessary.

At New Hope Dental Care, we take our responsibility seriously when patients come to us with oral health emergencies. Our dentist, Dr. Eric Ladimer, acts quickly and efficiently to get their pain under control, then helps the patient understand what their options are, along with all the variables that play into their decision. Keep our contact information nearby, and when anyone in your family is suffering from an injury, a tooth abscess, or a spreading gum infection, don’t hesitate to give us a call.