Are you facing a dental emergency here in South Portland? In that case, please do reach out – we treat urgent oral issues! You can count on Dr. Parét and her team to provide fast, pain-relieving emergency dentistry. Their expertise and technology will ensure your oral health is fully restored. Plus, an appointment at our office saves you the hassle of an ER visit. If that sounds good to you, just keep reading or book a consultation today.
Perhaps you’ve never had a dental emergency before. Still, there’s no need to worry; Mind Your Mouth has set guidelines for treating them. That said, here’s what to expect from our emergency care process:
While they can have unique details, many dental emergencies involve the same causes, symptoms, and similar factors. These kinds are thus more common than the other varieties. Given that reality, our office is well-equipped to treat many urgent oral issues. If you suffer any of the following, then, don’t hesitate to see us at once.
The total cost of your dental emergency treatment will depend on your situation. Cavities, for example, are typically treated with fillings, whereas a deeply infected tooth might need a root canal. Both treatments would be necessary for restoring your oral health and protecting your smile from further harm, but a root canal is likely to be more expensive than a filling.
Fortunately, regardless of your emergency treatment plan, we can help reduce your expenses. Click the button below to learn more about the cost of dental emergencies.
No two dental emergencies are alike, just as no two smiles are exactly the same. There can be a fairly wide range in cost between various treatment options, but when you visit us for emergency dental treatment, the very first thing we’ll do is examine your mouth. Once we get a sense of your situation and which solutions might be best, we’ll be able to give you a more precise price.
It depends on your unique insurance plan; however, most dental insurance policies cover about 50% - 80% of dental emergency costs. The last thing we want is for you to worry about your dental insurance coverage during an urgent visit, so if you’re unsure about your benefits, we’d be happy to help you navigate the details.
Our team understands that not everyone has the same access to dental insurance. We proudly offer alternative payment plans to help make urgent treatment more affordable for our patients. For example, our in-house membership plans include discounts on several services for one yearly price.
Or, if you’d be interested in breaking down your final bill into more manageable, monthly chunks, you can do so through CareCredit financing. Some of their plans are available at little-to-no interest, making this option one worth exploring.
Another way you can save money is with regular preventative care. This includes biannual checkups and cleanings with our friendly team, as well as good at-home oral hygiene. While dental damage due to injury is another story, urgent oral conditions like tooth decay and gum disease are often preventable.
When harmful oral bacteria are left undisturbed, they’ll attack your enamel, gums, and other oral tissues. Just by brushing your teeth twice daily and flossing at least once per day, you can mitigate their growth, protect your smile, and avoid needing costly treatment in the future!
When possible, it’s better to prevent a dental emergency than to manage one. After all, the latter option is troublesome and uses more time, money, and resources. Thankfully, there are ways to reduce your risk of having such an emergency. These methods include the following:
Although delicious, snacks that are loaded with sugar can wreak havoc on your smile. That’s why we strongly recommend adding lots of nutrient-dense foods to your diet, like apples, carrots, and broccoli. Not only are they free of added sugar, but they also help keep your jawbone strong and your teeth healthy. So, do your best to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet the majority of the time. It will benefit both your oral and overall health!
If you don’t take good care of your teeth and gums, it won’t be long until you’re dealing with a painful toothache, bleeding when you brush, and other warning signs of trouble. For this reason, we encourage our patients to implement good habits into their daily routine, starting with brushing for a full two minutes each morning and evening. It’s also important that you floss at least once a day to remove debris from between your teeth and along your gumline.
Unfortunately, tooth decay, gum disease, and oral cancer can all develop and progress quickly. That’s why our South Portland dentist needs to conduct an exam twice a year; we want to catch conditions like these early on (while they still can be treated or managed).
It’s also important to mention here that built-up plaque and tartar can be difficult – if not impossible – to remove with your toothbrush and floss. So, you need to schedule a cleaning with us every six months so we can gently remove harmful substances like these before they cause trouble.
Whether it’s a bag of chips or plastic wrapping around a bottle, do NOT use your teeth as tools to open things. This is one of the easiest ways to chip or crack a tooth, warranting a same-day visit to our office for treatment. Instead, get the proper tools, like scissors. It may seem inconvenient in the moment, but it’s less inconvenient than dropping everything to handle a painful dental injury.
If you participate in a contact sport, like football, then it goes without saying that you need to wear a mouthguard. Many patients think that’s not the case for skateboarding, rollerblading, surfing, and other non-contact sports. That’s not true. After all, you could accidentally fall, causing a tooth to come loose or fall out completely. To protect yourself from serious dental injuries like these, always wear a mouthguard!
Tooth discomfort comes in many varieties, but throbbing tooth pain may be a sign of severe infection or inflammation caused by bacteria colonizing the inner chamber of the tooth. Cavities or cracks can allow air to contact the tissues inside the dental structure, which can give germs access to the sensitive pulp at the center. This results in irritation and possibly infection of the pulp tissue, resulting in severe pain. Throbbing pain may also be the result of advanced enamel decay or frequent clenching or grinding of the teeth.
Toothaches do not typically go away on their own, so it’s best to contact our office in South Portland if you experience tooth pain so we can make sure that there isn’t anything seriously wrong. Tooth pain can be caused by many factors, and determining the source of your dental discomfort early can make the difference between keeping your tooth and needing to extract and replace it. In some cases, a toothache may not be caused by a problem with the tooth itself, but rather by irritation or infection of the gum tissue supporting it. In this case, the problem will probably be best addressed by gum disease treatment.
There is often a lot less noise and activity at night that during the day, and this can make it much harder to ignore a toothache. If you find that your dental pain is making it difficult to sleep, try using pillows or cushions to prop up your head and reduce the blood pressure in your troubled tooth. You can also reduce your discomfort by avoiding foods that are hot, cold, acidic, or hard in the hours before bed and taking over-the-counter pain medication as directed if necessary. You can also try applying a cold compress to the cheek covering the afflicted tooth to reduce pain and swelling.
If you suffer with a severe toothache for several days only to find that the problem seems to disappear on its own, this may not mean that the issue has been solved. In some cases, a toothache will disappear because the bacteria attacking the tooth have killed the nerves sending distress signals to the brain, meaning you won’t feel any pain as the dental infection continues to advance. If the problem isn’t dealt with promptly, the germs could spread to the rest of your mouth. If you find that your miserable toothache suddenly disappears, contact our office immediately so we can administer an appropriate treatment.
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