Our Emergency Dentist Office is Open This Summer

As an emergency dentist, there is no holiday season, a time of year when the accidents stop happening, and we stop restoring teeth. Summer, however, is probably our busiest time of year. The reasons for this are pretty simple. During the summer months, people tend to be more relaxed, which means that they do not pay as much attention. They also tend to be engaged in activities that can lead to accidents, walking around a slippery pool for example. Regardless of the reason, one in every six (1/6) people on vacation this summer will find themselves in need of the services of an emergency dentist. This is actually a really big number when you start to consider that over 88% of all Americans plan to take their vacation during the summer months this year. So as people are packing their things and heading off to holiday with their grandparents, or in exotic destinations, our emergency dentist office is preparing for a number of calls from people who slipped on a wet surface, bit down too hard on a piece of barbeque, or had a close encounter with a volleyball.
 
As an emergency dentist, there are two things we wish that all of our patients knew. The first is the importance of keeping our contact information handy. When on vacation, or if you have folks over, you can never tell when there might be an accident that requires the skill of an emergency dentist. In cases like this you do not want to be looking for a dentist while someone is in discomfort. Remembering that not all dentists work nights and weekends, it pays to have an emergency dentist contact information handy so that you can make the call quickly. The second thing we wish patients would remember is that a dental emergency is as much of an emergency as a medical emergency and time is of the essence when trying to save your tooth, or teeth. Here is an example –

One of the more common accidents is someone getting a tooth knocked out. From the time the tooth leaves your mouth, you have around 5 minutes to replace it in the socket. After five minutes have passed the ligaments that hold the tooth in place will start to have permanent damage, which will either need to be repaired or will make it more difficult to reattach the tooth permanently. What you want to do is immediately find the tooth, wash it off under cool water for 8 to 10 seconds and then place it back into the socket. Washing the tooth will remove any dirt that may have accumulated on it, which helps when it comes to avoiding an infection. Remember that there is an open wound onto which you are placing this tooth. If you cannot place the tooth back, which happens sometimes due to the shape of the break or because of extensive discomfort, store the tooth in a container with milk and transport it into our emergency dentist office for reattachment.