5 Signs You Need to Go to an Emergency Dentist

Whenever it's necessary to make a judgment call on a situation, there's plenty of room for error. However, when you have some guidelines or rules of thumb, it can help you make the right choice. Here are some guidelines you can use to determine whether or not you have a dental emergency on your hands. If your situation involves one or more of these characteristics, you should not hesitate to contact Dr. Ammons and arrange for emergency treatment.

If you have a severe toothache, that's probably a good sign that you need to visit your dentist so that you can quickly obtain relief. While the toothache is still minor, there are some treatment options you can try right at your home, for instance taking some kind of medication. When the pain is so severe and so persistent that it's literally dominating your thinking, that's time to contact your dentist and seek relief. As soon as your dentist sees you, he/she will determine the cause of your pain, and then administer the appropriate treatment.

Adults should never experience teeth which are loose or which move around inside the mouth. If you do have one or more teeth which are wiggling around, it could be due to an injury you recently sustained, or the cause could be something entirely different. Either way, you'll need to find out what's happening with your teeth right away, so you should make emergency arrangements with your dentist. If your loose tooth is accompanied by some serious pain, you may also have an infected tooth, and that also requires immediate treatment.

When you realize you have a dental abscess, there is no time to waste and you should make emergency arrangements right away. A tooth which has become abscessed is generally very painful, and the infection is usually situated right at the base of the tooth. This is generally caused by severe gum disease or a cavity which has gone untreated. In some cases, it can also occur as a result of trauma occurring to your teeth. To be sure you have an abscessed tooth, you should determine if there's any fever present, look for swollen glands, check for the presence of pus, and determine if you have a foul taste in your mouth. Chances are, your abscessed tooth will need surgical correction, so as to drain the infection and administer appropriate treatment.

When you have a really swollen jaw, that is very often a sign that there is a serious infection present. The salivary glands can become infected, and this will generally leave an unpleasant taste in your mouth, along with fever and difficulty breathing or swallowing. If you notice any of these symptoms, you should contact your dentist right away and describe what you're going through. Most likely, your dentist will have you come in for treatment right away.

If you have been having a painful toothache, and then all of a sudden the pain completely disappears, that could be a sign that the infection has spread right to the tooth root. When you have no feeling at all in your tooth, that can be an indication that a localized infection is now more widespread, and that the abscess has now reached the tooth root. Whenever you have a toothache, you should pay close attention to what you feel, and when it becomes really painful, that's time to seek emergency treatment.