In the event of a dental emergency, call Katy Smile Design at 281.843.9814. Dr. Catherine Wilder and Dr. Lauren Shepard are emergency dentists in Katy, TX. Their goal is to quickly find the source of their patient’s pain or dysfunction and find the best solution. Dental emergencies fall under general dentistry because they also offer preventative treatment.
Emergency dental care can restore your oral health and help prevent future oral health problems caused by untreated dental issues.
How Do I Know it’s a Dental Emergency?
A dental emergency is anything that happens that needs to be taken care of immediately. For instance, chipped teeth have a large range of severity. A small cosmetic chip isn’t something that needs to be taken care of right away. But if a large piece of your tooth is broken off, you’re going to experience intense pain. Something like that requires attention. If you experience something that needs direct attention, call our office immediately.
Emergency Dental Problems
Some of the most common dental emergencies that we can treat in our office include:
- Toothaches: Severe tooth pain or sensitivity is abnormal. If you have a toothache, take over-the-counter pain medication and apply a cold compress to the side of the face to stop swelling. Then, contact our Katy, Texas dental office. Sometimes toothaches can be caused by an infection or abscess, so it is important to call us promptly. We will thoroughly examine your teeth so we can find and treat the cause of your pain.
- Knocked-out tooth: Have you just knocked out a permanent tooth? Try to locate the tooth and pick it up by the crown, or top. You can gently rinse off the tooth in water and place it in a cup of cold milk. Keeping the tooth moist preserves it for easy transport to our office. Sometimes, teeth preserved like this can be replaced. However, dental implants are a good second option. Dental implants are durable restorations that look and feel just like natural teeth. They can replace single or multiple missing or lost teeth.
- Broken teeth: Large chips or breaks in teeth can sometimes expose the inner pulp, made up of nerves and blood vessels, in the tooth. Broken teeth are often prone to tooth sensitivity and pain. If the pulp inside of the tooth becomes infected, patients will need a root canal or tooth extraction. Root canals remove the infection from within the tooth, while tooth extractions fully remove the teeth.
- Damaged or broken dental restoration: If you have an old or damaged dental bridge, dental crown, denture, or dental implant, call our dental office as soon as possible. We can create a treatment plan for a new replacement. Dr. Wilder and Dr. Shepard work with local dental surgeons for implantation services and provide crowns as the final restoration.
- Bleeding gums: Gingivitis is often marked by irritated or bleeding gums. While not an emergency, it should be treated by a dental professional. However, sudden and persistent bleeding, especially following a recent dental procedure, is abnormal. Contact our office and we will help stop the bleeding and find the cause. Bleeding that continues for days after a restorative procedure needs to be treated by a dental professional.
Emergency Dentistry FAQs
Will an emergency dentist take a tooth out?
Emergency tooth extraction is typically only required when a tooth must be removed in the next 24 to 48 hours. Emergency tooth extraction situations include those that involve severe, crippling pain, large cracks, enormous fractures, or other conditions that could endanger the dental health of the patient.
What are the most common dental emergencies?
The most common dental emergencies include a knocked-out tooth, broken or fractured tooth, dental abscess, or severe toothache. All of these can be treated promptly in our office.
Is an infected tooth considered an emergency?
An abscessed tooth is definitely a dental emergency. You must get treatment right away if you have an abscessed tooth. Abscesses can cause infection to spread throughout the body, which can have significant and even fatal consequences if left untreated. The sooner these problems are treated, the better.
How does an emergency dentist differ from a general dentist?
While general dentists handle standard procedures, emergency dentists handle urgent accidents. Some general dentistry practices are able to handle emergencies, but not all are. Our office is ready to treat emergency, cosmetic, general, and restorative treatments.
Schedule a Dental Appointment
If you have questions about your current concerns and are unsure if you have a dental emergency, you can still call our office at 281.843.9814. For non-emergencies, you may request a dental appointment on our website. We serve new and existing patients in Katy, Fulshear, Richmond, and other local communities.