Emergency Dentistry St. Augustine
Let Us Help You Out of Pain
Whether it is a piece of food that causes your crown to pop off or a tooth that is knocked out as a result of a friendly game of tackle football, dental emergencies can range in severity. However, just because you believe one may not be as serious as another doesn’t mean you should avoid professional help. At Total Dental Care: Tony Lee, DMD, we want you to call our office right away, no matter the type of dental injury. Offering same-day emergency dentistry appointments in St. Augustine, we’ll work quickly to get you in and be seen by Dr. Lee so that you can return home with a pain- and damage-free smile.
Why Choose Total Dental Care: Tony Lee, DMD for Emergency Dentistry?
- Same-Day Dental Emergency Appointments
- We’ll Help Maximize Your Dental Benefits
- Sedation Dentistry Offered to Patients in Need
How We Treat Dental Emergencies
To ensure you receive the most efficient and effective treatment, the following steps should be taken when a dental emergency occurs:
- Call and schedule an appointment – Our team members will schedule a same-day appointment should your situation require immediate care. After explaining the reason for your emergency visit, we will offer first-aid tips that you can use while you wait to see Dr. Lee.
- Undergo a thorough examination – When arriving at our office, we will escort you to a treatment room and take diagnostic images of your mouth. This will help Dr. Lee to more thoroughly examine the problem area while also performing a visual examination.
- Compile our findings – Lee will compile all of his findings to produce a complete treatment plan that includes the recommended services. He will go over it with you to determine if you would like to proceed.
- Helping you out of pain – Once you agree to the proposed plan, we will get to work relieving you of any pain while addressing the damaged portion of your smile.
The Most Common Dental Emergencies
There are many different types of dental emergencies, each with its own challenges. While some are less problematic than others (i.e., soft tissue laceration), others need immediate treatment to avoid tooth loss (i.e., knocked-out tooth). To know how you should proceed when faced with a dental injury, review our list of the most common dental emergencies below.
Understanding the Cost of Emergency Dentistry
The cost of emergency dentistry isn’t the same across the board. After all, no two situations are exactly the same! With that said, you don’t have to worry – we will provide you with an estimate of the price and discuss the different financial solutions that are available at our office.
Why Every Dental Emergency is Different
Since no two situations are exactly the same, we need to complete a comprehensive oral exam first. Once we’ve pinpointed the type of dental injury you’ve sustained, how severe the damage is, and the restorative care that’s needed, we can provide you with a price estimate. We will also take the time to review the different financial solutions that are available so you don’t have to stress about the cost, starting with dental insurance.
Does Dental Insurance Cover Dental Emergencies?
Since dental plans vary, it’s important to read through the fine print on yours to familiarize yourself with your coverage. With that said, many providers do cover one emergency exam per year as well as between 50% and 80% of the cost of essential restorative care. So, you shouldn’t hesitate to provide us with your membership information when you arrive at our office. From there, we can review your benefits, provide you with an estimate of your out-of-pocket expenses, and submit the claims on your behalf.
Other Options for Making Dental Emergencies Affordable
Patients at our St. Augustine dental office can also make the cost of emergency dentistry more affordable by:
- Joining Our In-House Discount Plan – Doing so comes with a 20% discount on any dental treatments that you need.
- Signing Up for Flexible Financing – With CareCredit and Cherry financing, you can pay for the cost of your care over the course of several months.
If you’d like more details on either of these financial solutions, including where to sign up, just ask a friendly member of our team.
How Taking Care Of Your Smile Can Save You Money
Fortunately, tooth decay, damaged restorations, and other common dental problems are largely preventable with the right best practices in place. That starts with the obvious, like brushing your teeth twice a day, and extends to cleaning your tongue, replacing your toothbrush every 3-4 months, and wearing a nightguard if you grind or clench your teeth at night. It’s also extremely important that you schedule an appointment with us every six months so we can catch oral health issues in the early stages and remove built-up plaque and tartar.
Important reminder: If you suspect that something is wrong because you’re experiencing persistent sensitivity or a sharp, stabbing pain when you bite down, then don’t wait until your biannual visit. Instead, schedule an appointment with our emergency dentist in St. Augustine, Dr. Tony Lee. That way, he can pinpoint and treat the root of the problem before it gets any worse.
Keys to Preventing Dental Emergencies
Dental emergencies can occur at any time, so our office reserves time each day for same-day appointments to address urgent issues without delay. Once we’ve examined your mouth and determined the main problem, we can devise a customized treatment plan to address it.
But many emergencies stem from common oral concerns that can often be avoided, meaning a few simple precautions can protect your dental health and help reduce the need for costly, complex procedures. Continue reading to learn more about how you can help safeguard your smile and prevent dental emergencies!
Visit Your Dentist Regularly
It’s easy to assume that your teeth and gums must be perfectly healthy if you haven’t noticed obvious issues at home, but it’s possible to develop hidden cavities, periodontal disease, or other concerns and not know.
Scheduling a routine checkup and cleaning with Dr. Lee every 6 months allows our team to monitor your dental health so we can catch and treat potential problems, like early cavities or gum disease, before they become more serious.
Maintain Good Oral Hygiene at Home
You must also help keep your mouth clean between dental visits by implementing a consistent, twice-daily at-home dental hygiene routine. Brushing and flossing both morning and night removes plaque and bacteria that contribute to dental decay, periodontal disease, chips and cracks, and other concerns.
Eat a Well-Balanced Diet
You can also help protect your smile by eating a wholesome diet that supports your oral and overall well-being. For example, reducing your intake of sugary or acidic foods can prevent tooth decay, and avoiding common culprits such as tea, coffee, wine, and berries can help keep stains and other issues at bay.
Meanwhile, incorporating more dairy into your diet boosts calcium to build strong teeth and bones, and many citrus fruits and leafy greens are high in vitamin C to support your connective tissues.
Protect Your Teeth
Athletes are prone to sustaining injuries that can break, destabilize, or dislodge their teeth, though you might also harm your enamel if you suffer from bruxism, or chronic teeth grinding.
You can help avoid dental damage by investing in custom-fitted oral appliances, such as a mouthguard or nightguard, to cushion your enamel and gum tissues to prevent injuries and other issues.
Try to Avoid Using Teeth as Tools
You’re not alone if you’ve ever considered opening a bottle or package by tearing at it with your teeth, but this can chip, crack, or scratch your enamel or cut the tender tissues inside your mouth, which tend to bleed.
Taking a few moments to find a more appropriate tool for the job at hand, such as a pair of scissors or a bottle opener, can help protect your grin from potential harm.
Dental Emergency FAQs
Will my toothache eventually go away on its own?
There are many potential causes of a toothache, and not all of them are emergencies. Perhaps because of this, many patients wonder whether toothaches will eventually fade with enough time and patience, like headaches and bruises often do.
However, when it comes to oral issues, the truth is that they rarely take care of themselves and usually only grow progressively worse the longer they remain unaddressed. That means the sooner you contact our office in St. Augustine for an appointment, the less likely you are to develop additional injuries, decay, or disease.
Should I visit the ER first for urgent dental issues?
Getting help as soon as you notice a dental problem can often make a world of difference when it comes to saving your smile, and it’s natural to wonder whether you should head to the closest emergency room rather than call our office for faster help. But usually, it’s better to visit someone with specialized training in identifying and treating oral concerns, like Dr. Lee.
Although ER doctors are incredibly skilled and are equipped to handle a variety of urgent issues, they don’t have the same experience regarding teeth and gums as a dentist does. Not only that, but unlike emergency rooms, our office is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment that’s designed for oral use.
But if you suspect you have broken your jaw, have sustained lacerations that don’t stop bleeding after 10 minutes of pressure, or have an abscess or infection that causes high fever or impairs your ability to breathe or swallow, you should visit the closest ER immediately.
How can I sleep with tooth pain?
Our office reserves time for same-day visits and offers two types of dental sedation so that you won’t have to wait long for relief if you’ve developed a sudden or severe toothache. However, you might have to wait a night or two to contact us if your problem develops at night or over the weekend outside of our usual business hours.
If the throbbing in your tooth is preventing you from getting some much-needed rest, you might find these tips helpful:
- Prop your head up. Sleeping in your favorite recliner or propping your head on several pillows helps prevent additional blood from pooling in your mouth, which places more pressure on the tender nerves in your already-aching tooth.
- Apply a cold compress. Placing an ice pack to the sore side of your face for 15 minutes at a time can induce a temporary numbing sensation to help you drift off.
- Try over-the-counter pain medications. Taking the recommended dose of store-bought options, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, can help take the edge off long enough to get some rest.
Do minor chips require an emergency appointment?
You might think of minor chips or cracks as ‘merely’ surface issues, but the truth is that any injury to your enamel makes it easier for bacteria to penetrate your teeth and contribute to issues like disease and decay. Not only that, but the issue might extend deeper into the root of your tooth or below the gumline than you can see with the naked eye.
It’s better to contact our team to schedule an appointment so we can take X-rays or other images, as needed, to determine the extent of the harm done. Then, we can provide a customized treatment plan, such as placing a dental crown, to prevent additional damage while preserving your tooth's function and appearance.
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