A severe toothache can be considered a dental emergency.
We will first need to examine your mouth to check for signs of trauma, bleeding, and damage to teeth. X-rays may be taken to get a closer look at possible infections or damage to the dental pulp.
Our top priority is to relieve your discomfort. You can expect to receive local anesthesia before we move forward with treatment. If you have a painful tooth infection, we can perform the first step of a root canal which can relieve your pain.
Once we’ve identified the problem and relieved your pain, we need to prevent the situation from becoming worse. We will develop a treatment plan to preserve the health of your teeth and gums and restore any damaged teeth.
Depending on the necessary treatment, you may need to return for additional appointments to complete your treatment.
At Ortega Family Dental, we understand that emergencies often occur when we least expect them to. That’s why we offer same-day emergency dental care to our patients, whether or not they had a planned appointment.
While we can take walk-ins, we’ll be better able to accommodate you if you give us a call at (904) 389-3694 first so we can prepare for your visit and assess your issue as soon as possible once you arrive. We always leave a little bit of room in our schedule to accommodate our patients who need urgent dental care. You can expect to arrive at your appointment, be assessed with an oral exam and x-rays, and then we will move forward with your treatment plan.
We do not recommend going to the ER for a dental emergency unless you are suffering from life-threatening injuries. Hospitals usually do not have dentists or oral surgeons on staff. While they may have one oral surgeon on call, they will only treat you if the situation is very serious and life-threatening.
If you show up to the hospital with an issue that could be treated by the dentist in Jacksonville , they will likely assess you, tell you there isn’t much they can do, and then send you a bill that could have been avoided.
Never hesitate to go to the hospital when you are experiencing serious issues such as difficulty breathing or swallowing or have suffered considerable trauma to the jaw or dangerous cuts to the face that can be detrimental to your health. However, all other dental emergencies are best treated here at the dentist.
If you have a knocked-out tooth, it’s important to get to the dentist within an hour for the best chance of reattachment.
The most commonly extracted teeth are wisdom teeth, because of their tendency to grow in improperly, which can cause repeated infections and severe pain. Other teeth may require extraction if they are severely decayed, chipped, cracked, or otherwise broken. They also may need to be removed if they have become loose in the socket as a result of gum disease, if there isn’t enough space in the mouth due to overcrowding, or for certain orthodontic situations.
After having a tooth extracted, it’s important to encourage blood clotting for proper healing. Certain activities can dislodge or prevent blood clots from forming, so you will need to avoid smoking, spitting or sucking, rinsing your mouth for the first 24 hours, eating solid foods, chewing on the side of the extraction, and drinking hot liquids.
Once the numbing agent has worn off, you may feel some soreness or tenderness at the site of the extraction, which can be relieved with pain medication. However, you should not take aspirin, which is a blood thinner and can prolong the healing process.
Leave your gauze in place for about 3-4 hours unless it becomes soaked with blood. For the first 24 hours, it’s important to stick to soft foods, get plenty of rest, and elevate your head to reduce swelling. While swelling is less common in simple extractions, patients who have received multiple extractions may notice some additional swelling which can be relieved by applying cold compresses to the face.
Your dentist will inform you when it is safe to introduce solid foods back into your diet and how to clean your teeth but you should leave them alone for the first 24 hours. After 24 hours have passed, you can gently swish around a saline rinse in your mouth to eliminate bacteria.
It is possible for dental implants to become infected. This is known as “peri-implantitis.” However, this is a very rare complication, and it typically only occurs if the implant is not cared for and kept clean after surgery.
You can avoid peri-implantitis by following your dentist’s instructions while recovering, and by brushing and flossing regularly after your implant has healed.
Dr. Barikbin will always try to save your tooth first before considering an extraction.
.png)
.png)
.png)