Emergency Dental Care At Our Burton Practice

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If you need to receive treatment quickly, please follow our advice

A lot can be done to make sure that you keep your teeth as healthy as possible. Good home care with regular brushing and flossing is important, as is keeping your sugar consumption down to a sensible level. Keeping your appointments to see the dentist and hygienist is also  essential and if you do all of these things, you minimise the risk of needing a restorative procedure due to tooth damage.

Unfortunately, as we know, life doesn’t always follow a straight line and can deviate without warning. A second or two of being distracted could cause us to do the old silent cinema classic and walk into a lamp post (or even slip on a banana skin). If we play sports, there is often a risk of facial damage. Finally, not all of us may have looked after our teeth as well as we think and a small amount of decay may have increased and weakened a tooth or may be causing you pain with an excruciating toothache. If any of these scenarios arise, what should you do?

Contact us straight away

The most obvious thing to say is that if you have suffered from something that requires emergency oral care, you should call Mike Allen’s Dental Practice straight away.  Naturally, we are not open 24 hours a day but if you do need urgent dental care when we are closed, there will be a message on our answerphone offering advice on who to contact for out of hours assistance.

If the problem is not catastrophic and can wait a few hours, even if you need to take painkillers in the meantime, try to ring us as early as you can once we have opened. The earlier you can call us, the better chance there is that we may even be able to see you that same day, although this will depend on many factors, so there may be a short delay. Our reception team members are trained to offer advice on what you should do until we are able to see you, and where they are unsure, they will be able to ask a dentist and call you back with the appropriate information. As far as possible, we will prioritise appointments, attempting to see those in most need first.

Remember too that whilst some problems quite obviously require urgent treatment, even a minor issue such as a chipped tooth or a mild throbbing sensation of the tooth should not be ignored and whilst you may not require same day treatment, you should still contact us for a prompt appointment to prevent the problem from becoming worse.

One final point; if your dental injury has been caused by a significant accident or head trauma, you should consider whether you need to go to the A&E first to make sure that there are no serious head injuries. We can always replace lost teeth but head and brain injuries can be very serious and affect the rest of your life. If in doubt, please don’t take chances.

Moving forwards to a healthier mouth

Whilst some emergency dentist work is likely to be on relatively ‘minor’ issues such as providing a small filling, despite it causing quite a lot of pain, not all problems that people come to see us with in this situation are as simple. In some cases, this has been caused by years of neglect, perhaps abusing their oral health by smoking, alongside poor quality cleaning and avoiding the dentist for many years at a time. In cases like this, it may prove to be no bad thing in the long run if you suddenly need to see a dentist urgently.

This might sound a little harsh, but when pain strikes, it can act as an impetus to start to correct the wrongs of many years. The first step, naturally, is to restore the tooth or teeth that are causing the immediate problem. Subsequent appointments can then be set up with both the dentist and the hygienist to help you get back on track to a healthier mouth.

There are many things we can do to help you with this, both with routine and cosmetic dentistry. Other teeth may require filling or possibly additional work where the damage is significant. Missing teeth can be replaced with dentures or implants and of course, you will need to receive a thorough scale and polish in order to start managing any gum disease that may be present. All of this can take time and we will put together a treatment plan, dealing with the most urgent issues first. Gradually, you will start to notice that your mouth starts to feel better and you are more confident with your bite when you are eating.

Following the transformation of their oral health, some people go one step further and seek cosmetic dentistry, including teeth whitening, to bring out the best in their new smile.

Whether you need emergency treatment or simply need to make a standard appointment with one of our Burton dentists, you can do so by speaking to one of our friendly reception team at Mike Allen’s Dental Practice. Please call us on 01283 845345.