Dental problems can happen anywhere anytime. Knowing a dental clinic where to get emergency assistance without an appointment is a wonderful thing. This allows getting relief from immense pain or salvaging a tooth that has been knocked out. Reaching the dental office shortly after the injury has happened has a possibility of fixing the tooth back in place.
Common reasons to dental walk-ins
Knocked out tooth
You can knock out a tooth while doing something or getting a hard blow on the cheek. Luckily, rushing to the dentist in about one or two hours allows the dentist to place it back in the socket. An emergency dentist inspects the tooth to ensure that the dental root is intact. Additionally, the mouth is evaluated to ensure the gums are free from tears or injuries.
Afterward, the dentist rinses the tooth and places it back in its original socket. A metal brace or composite resin material is applied to set the tooth in place for about eight weeks. The dentist will give you ideas to ensure that the tooth sets ideally in place without complications. After replacement, a root canal might be necessary to complete the procedure.
Severe dental pain
Feeling severe dental pain is another common cause of dental walk-ins. The best dentist in northern VA will diagnose the pain to determine whether you need abscess treatment or root canal. During abscess treatment, pus from the gums is laced and drained. Afterward, the dentist prescribes antibiotics and painkillers. For root canal surgery, the internal pulp and nerve tissues are removed from the infected tooth after drilling a hole. This tooth is medicated and capped for filling with resin after a few days.
Broken teeth
Once you notice that your tooth is broken, never hesitate to walk into a dental clinic without an appointment. This allows determining the cause of the problem. An x-ray might be required to determine whether the tooth root is intact or has damaged. A temporary crown is an ideal solution for a tooth with a healthy root.
A permanent porcelain crown is prepared after taking an impression of your tooth. The crown is molded in a dental laboratory. An acrylic cap is recommended to protect the tooth. In other cases, superficial cracking of the tooth might require resin composites to fill the problem area.
Chipped tooth
This is one of the most common causes of dental walk-ins. Food like nuts and chicken bones can cause a tooth to chip. A walk-in into a dental clinic is necessary when this happens. Injury or accidents also cause teeth to chip. You can also suffer from a chipped tooth from using your teeth to open bottle tops. Walking with chipped teeth is quite embarrassing. Luckily, a dentist will recommend solutions including a bond, veneer, or crown to fix the chip.
Something stuck
Food can stick in your teeth as gums pull away causing a food trap or black triangle depending on the shape of the open area. Tooth decay leads to cavities where food can get stuck. Gum disease also encourages food to get stuck in teeth. This has the potential to cause other significant problems like receding gums and makes tooth attachment to bone hard.
Regardless of the circumstance, food stuck in your teeth is a dental emergency. Never hesitate to walk into a dental clinic without an appointment. Food stuck in a deep crevice causes severe pain and inflammation. An emergency will assist remove the stuck pieces for pain relief and restoring your comfort. A dentist has the appropriate tools and equipment to reach hard-to-reach areas in the mouth to eliminate foreign objects.
Lost filling
When having dental cavities, the dentist applies filling. This is necessary for a fractured tooth with white composite filling matching your other teeth. Fractures can happen while chewing something hard, during sports, or falling and landing on your head. A dental filling is also necessary to cover up discolored teeth. This might result from regular drinking of tea, wine, and coffee that make your teeth lose their whiteness.
Cracked, chipped, or other form of damage on a tooth requires filling. All these leave the natural tooth structure in jeopardy. Dental filling offers extra support to the remaining tooth structure. However, there is a likelihood of losing your dental filling when you least expect. This exposes the tooth to further damage and great embarrassment since people around you might not have seen your cracked tooth. Walking into a dental clinic right away to replace the filling will protect your tooth from more damage and before people notice the damage.
Wrapping up
Booking a dental appointment is necessary for your routine dental check-up or when making a return visit. However, there are situations where a walk-in is necessary. A broken or knocked out tooth or lost filling need walking into the dental clinic as soon as possible. This allows getting appropriate care and to protect your teeth from further damage.