Emergency Dentistry – Carrollton, TX
Dental Emergencies Handled Fast
Dental emergencies are scary and impossible to plan for. One minute you’re having a nice bike ride or getting ready to enjoy your favorite meal and the next thing you know you’re dealing with a broken tooth, a toothache, or something else that causes you pain and worry. What can you do in these cases? Call your trusted emergency dentist as soon as possible! We will fix the problem and have you on your way before you know it with emergency dentistry in our Carrollton, TX dental office.
Why Choose Celebration Family Dental of Carrollton for Emergency Dentistry?
- Same-Day Emergency Appointments Available
- Multiple Forms of Dental Sedation Offered
- Personable and Caring Dental Team
How We Treat Dental Emergencies
There’s no time to lose during a dental emergency; as soon as you call, our team will start taking whatever steps are necessary to get you out of pain and treat any damage done to your teeth and gums. Our approach to urgent dental care follows this structure:
- First, we’ll make an emergency appointment for you. For emergency situations, we make it a point to see patients within a couple of hours whenever possible. One of our team members can walk you through any first aid measures that are needed.
- When you arrive, we’ll take steps to stop the worst of your pain, and we’ll check your teeth and gums carefully to figure out the root of the problem. X-rays can be taken if needed.
- Once we’ve determined the nature of your emergency, we’ll explain what we found and work with you to come up with a treatment plan. The estimated price and length of the treatment will be explained to you.
- After you’ve committed to a given treatment plan, we will work quickly to address the problems that we’ve found so that you can regain your healthy, whole smile sooner rather than later.
The Most Common Dental Emergencies
Some dental emergencies – such as a broken or knocked out tooth – are fairly easy to identify. In other cases, it might not be entirely clear whether your situation is an emergency or not. Below, you’ll find a list of common dental emergencies that we treat; if you click on them, you can learn more about how urgent they are, what you can do on your own to keep some of your symptoms under control, and how we might treat the problem. Reach out immediately if you experience one of these problems.
Cost of Dental Emergencies
The treatments that we recommend for dental emergencies can vary depending on the nature of your emergency. Therefore, we can’t provide you with a cost estimate unless you have us examine your smile. An oral infection, for instance, could only require a prescription of antibiotics, or it may necessitate something more complex, like root canal therapy. Regardless, you should still schedule an appointment with us right away. The last thing you should do is put off treatment and allow your emergency to get worse!
Factors That Influence the Cost of Emergency Dental Care
It’s no secret that treating a dental emergency will most likely cost more than a routine checkup and cleaning. However, many factors can affect the price of your care, one of which is the specific nature of your emergency. Replacing a lost dental crown, for example, will probably cost much less than extracting and replacing a severely damaged tooth. After dentist has examined your mouth and determined the extent of the damage, we can give you a personalized cost estimate.
Another fact to consider is your level of dental insurance coverage. Most insurance plans will cover the cost of one emergency exam a year. Additionally, depending on the type of treatment you need, you can often expect your insurance to foot about 40-80% of the bill.
Your Financial Options
At Celebration Family Dental of Carrollton, we’re proudly in-network with the following dental insurance plans:
- Aetna
- Ameritas
- Assurant
- BlueCross BlueShield
- Cigna
- Delta Dental
- Guardian
- Humana
- MetLife
- United Concordia
- United Healthcare
- And more!
Our team will gladly handle all of the insurance paperwork on your behalf. After all, dental emergencies are already stressful enough!
If you don’t have dental insurance, or you need additional assistance paying for your care, worry not. We can help you apply for a CareCredit plan. These low-to-no interest loans have helped countless patients fit their dental care into their budget.
Why You Should Schedule an Emergency Appointment ASAP
Contrary to most medical issues, dental health problems do not usually get better on their own. In fact, they generally worsen if you wait too long to seek treatment. For instance, a cavity that may have originally required a filling could spread to the tooth’s center, where it would then require a root canal or extraction, both of which cost more than a filling. Calling us soon after the emergency strikes can save you a considerable amount of money!
Preventing Dental Emergencies
Our Carrollton emergency dental team takes pride in being there when our patients need us most. Of course, we understand that the true goal is preventing a serious dental injury from occurring in the first place. Although accidents can’t be avoided, there are several preventive measures you can take to lower your risk of developing a large cavity, knocking out a tooth, or damaging a restoration. Read on to learn a few best practices we recommend!
Visit Your Dentist for a Checkup & Cleaning Biannually
Regular checkups can help you minimize your risk of a dental emergency. How? To begin, the dental exam catches cavities, gum disease, and other serious oral health concerns in the early stages, saving you from a sudden (and potentially painful) dental injury. Furthermore, the cleaning portion removes stubborn plaque and tartar that your toothbrush and floss have missed, reducing your chances of experiencing a dental problem moving forward. That’s why it’s of the utmost importance that you visit us every six months!
Maintain a Solid Oral Hygiene Routine at Home
Naturally, you need to take care of your teeth between visits to our dental office as well. Many patients think that a solid oral hygiene routine has to be complicated, but it’s quite the opposite. Simply practice good brushing and flossing every day and consider adding mouthwash to your oral hygiene routine. A crucial component is being mindful of timing. For example, you need to brush your teeth for a full two minutes. Next time you brush, time yourself. You may be surprised how off you are!
Eat a Well-Balanced, Nutritious Diet
What you eat matters when it comes to your oral health. To start, consuming more sugary or starchy foods can dramatically increase your chances of developing tooth decay. Plus, extremely crunchy foods (i.e., hard pretzels, tortilla chips, raw nuts) can result in a chipped or cracked tooth. That’s why we recommend eating nutrient-dense, smile-friendly foods as often as you can, including cooked vegetables, healthy fats, and lean protein.
Wear a Mouthguard
Do you play sports? If so, you should have a custom mouthguard for practices and games. It may seem unnecessary, but a mouthguard can protect your teeth and gums from soft tissue injuries, knocked-out teeth, and other common dental emergencies.
Note: you should also consider getting a mouthguard if you chronically grind your teeth! This can help with everything from premature wear to morning headaches and jaw pain.
Use Tools to Open Packages, Not Your Teeth
All too often, we hear stories of patients using their teeth to open a bottle cap or tear into a bag of chips. Although this may seem convenient, all it takes is one time for your teeth to give under the pressure, necessitating an emergency visit to our office. So, always use the appropriate tools instead!
Dental Emergency Frequently Asked Questions
At Celebration Family Dental of Carrollton, we want all of our Carrollton patients to be well-prepared when it comes to their oral health. While we understand that not every dental emergency can be prevented, having the right knowledge in that situation can mean the difference between saving and losing your tooth. That’s why we have answered some of the dental emergency FAQs that we receive the most often.
Will My Insurance Cover Dental Emergencies?
Because insurance coverage varies greatly from plan to plan, and because each dental emergency is different, there’s no surefire way to tell how much you’ll end up having to pay for treatment. For example, if all you need is a small filling, your insurance is significantly more likely to cover that than if you need multiple teeth extracted and replaced. Our helpful and friendly team is here to maximize your benefits while minimizing the amount that you have to pay out of pocket. If you don’t have insurance, we proudly partner with CareCredit to let you finance your treatment with little to no interest.
How Long Should I Wait to Receive Emergency Treatment?
Ideally, you should call us immediately in the event of a dental emergency. While general medical conditions like the common cold often improve if you leave them alone, dental health problems typically worsen the longer you put off treatment. Generally, the sooner you come in for treatment, the more likely we are to be able to save your tooth. Not to mention, most dental emergencies come with some degree of pain, so we can help alleviate your discomfort as soon as possible.
Will I Need a Root Canal?
That depends on the extent of your dental emergency. Believe it or not, root canal therapy is actually one of our most common treatments for severe toothaches. If the pulp (the inside of the tooth) has been damaged or decayed badly enough, root canal therapy is the only option left besides extracting the tooth. During a root canal, we’ll remove the infected pulp tissue and get you out of pain quickly.
Should I Call the Emergency Room?
If your dental emergency could also be considered life-threatening, such as profuse bleeding, deep lacerations, swelling that obstructs your airway, or a broken jaw, then it’s much better to head to the emergency room instead of our dental office. For all other oral health problems, though, you’re significantly better off giving us a call. This is because most emergency rooms don’t have a dentist on staff. At best, they may be able to write you a prescription for painkillers or antibiotics, but they can’t address the root of the problem like we can.
How Can I Sleep with Tooth Pain?
Unfortunately, you may have to weather a night with tooth pain before we can see you. In this case, you need to keep your head elevated to keep blood flow to your head at a manageable level. Having blood rush to your head will only intensify your pain. Also, feel free to take over-the-counter pain reliever as directed to alleviate your discomfort. A cold compress on your face may also offer a slight numbing effect, allowing you to get some sleep.
Do I Still Need to See a Dentist If I’m Not in Pain?
Many think that a dental emergency must involve pain, but you can experience an urgent oral health matter without being uncomfortable. For instance, if you chip a tooth, you may not be in pain, but we still need to see you sooner than later. The more vulnerable inner layer of the tooth could be exposed, making decay more likely. Also, the tooth could have a sharp edge that could cut your tongue or cheek. If necessary, you can wait a day or two, but in this situation and other similar ones where you don’t have pain, it’s safest and best to seek help from your emergency dentist in Carrollton immediately.
Is a Knocked-Out Baby Tooth a Dental Emergency?
At some point, your child’s baby teeth are supposed to come out, but they may be prematurely knocked out because of an injury. Still, you shouldn’t try to put it back in the socket. If your child is close to the age when that tooth would normally fall out naturally, they should be fine, unless they are bleeding profusely. If it is significantly early, however, Dr. Shekhadiya needs to see them immediately. Other oral structures could be harmed, and your child may need to provide an oral appliance that maintains the spacing in their mouth. This will help the adult teeth under the gums to stay in healthier alignment.
Can I Use Superglue to Repair My Dentures?
Although it may be tempting to try a DIY solution to repair your dentures, it’s not a good idea. Superglue is not approved for oral use, and the dentures will likely not be perfectly lined up, which can cause you discomfort and make biting and chewing difficult. Plus, they will always be weak where they broke, meaning you won’t be able to trust them to stay together properly. By far, the wisest choice is to come to us for repairs or replacement so that you can use your dentures for their intended purpose.