When you have a dental problem, the last thing you want to do is wait to deal with it. Not just because the pain bad toothache or other issue causes can leave you unable to sleep or focus on work or anything else, but because not treating dental issues promptly can often lead to much worse (if not life threatening in some cases), much more costly problems.
But when you do have a dental emergency, and assuming you shouldn’t go to the ER for your tooth pain, what happens? What is the timescale of the process and how quickly can you expect some relief from the pain?
In general, a typical emergency dental appointment can take 45-60 minutes when you are in the chair, but that also depends on a variety of factors. Let’s examine what’s involved in an emergency dental appointment.
How Long to Book an Appointment?
Your initial call should be to a dentist that can see you and can help you with your needs. For most dental pain, you can try to get in for a same day dental emergency appointment but if it’s not too bad, you can wait until the next day or the day after.
Explain Your Pain or Discomfort to the Clinic
Make sure you have the answers to the following questions when booking your appointment:
- Carefully and specifically explain your pain (out of 10, with 1 being barely any pain, and 10 being you cannot sleep or focus).
- When did your pain start?
- Where you eating anything hard before then like a candy, nut, popcorn or bone etc.?
- Where is the pain located – is it a particular tooth, is it in the gums under the tooth, etc.?
- Do you have recent x-rays of this area?
- Explain your history of that tooth/area in your gums and jaw if it’s relevant (did you have a crown, an implant, a lot of fillings, a crack etc.)
Then you want to find out if they accept your insurance
You should allow for 3-10 minutes overall for your phone call. The more specific you explain your situation, the better the staff can help you.
Your Emergency Appointment Length
When you arrive for your appointment, you might have to explain to the dentist, your toothache situation again. Things may have changed since your call and he might have more specific questions after seeing your face.
Then, the staff will want to get some x-rays (if needed). If you don’t have any of this tooth, then x-rays are non-negotiable. All dentists need to see what’s going on under the surface before they understand what treatment to give you.
The focus of an emergency dental appointment is to identify the cause of your problem and treat it as quickly and effectively as possible.
Treatment Options
Your dentist will assess the issue and then discuss the treatment options with you. They always try to save the tooth. So, in most cases, they may just do a filling to fix any decay and away you go. If it’s much more serious, then you may need an extraction or a root canal or an implant.
You will always be consulted on treatment options for your emergency, and your dentist will always ensure that any treatment proposed is fully explained for you.
Make Sure You Call if You Have a Dental Emergency in Mississauga
In general, you can expect to go from contacting an emergency dentist in Mississauga for the first time to getting treatment within 24 hours. It may even be the same day, although it is best to expect somewhere within 48 hours if it’s a busy clinic.
Most emergency dentists keep some appointments free each day to allow for fast treatment for those unplanned problems, but how long treatment takes really is dependent on the issue you have. If you are in desperate need and the clinic is too busy to see you immediately, they will recommend another emergency clinic.
In both cases though, getting that first appointment and having a dentist explain a treatment to alleviate the discomfort is your first priority. With a plan in place, you can see an end to the issue and this is especially important for those who have been suffering with dental issues for a while.