any oral health symptom that needs urgent treatment to prevent further damage or loss of a tooth
Emergency Dentist — Boston, MA
Quality Care When You Need It Most
No matter how good a day you’ve been having, a dental emergency in Boston could still strike and leave your teeth damaged or in pain. Here at Kraft & Schrott Dental Associates, we’re always happy to accept patients in need of urgent care, and we’ll arrange for a same-day appointment whenever possible so that we can get started on fixing the issue. Don’t waste any time! Call us as soon as you can in order to arrange an emergency appointment with one of our skilled dental specialists.
Why Choose Kraft & Schrott Dental Associates for Emergency Dental Care?
- Same-Day Emergency Appointments Offered When Available
- Team of Experienced Dentists Focused On Your Comfort
- On-Call Doctor for After Hour Emergencies
What to Do in a Dental Emergency
- Step 1: Call us as soon as you can. The sooner you contact our office, the more likely we’ll be able to schedule you for a same-day emergency appointment. One of our team members will also walk you through basic first-aid for handling your emergency until you can reach us.
- Step 2: See your Boston emergency dentist. As soon as you arrive, one of our experienced dentists will see you right away for evaluation and pain relief. They’ll review their findings with you and work with you to create a custom treatment plan.
- Step 3: Enjoy quality care when you need it most. Once you’ve agreed to a treatment plan, our team will leap into action to protect your teeth, repair your smile, and eliminate your discomfort. Whether you need a filling, root canal, dental crown, or something else entirely, we’ll help you get back to enjoying your healthy smile in no time.
The Most Common Dental Emergencies
Some emergencies are the result of sudden accidents while others – such as those caused by infection and poor oral hygiene – occur slowly over time. We offer solutions for both kinds of issues; once we’ve examined you, we can figure out the most efficient treatment plan for restoring your smile.
Before you get to our office, though, you’ll want to perform some basic first aid. The following tips only serve as temporary solutions, but they can help you manage your pain and limit the damage to your teeth until your appointment.
Understanding the Cost of Dental Emergencies
The cost of emergency care varies greatly depending on the situation. Some patients will only need to pay for a simple restoration while others might need more complex treatments such as root canal therapy. Before you make any sort of decisions regarding your care, we’ll go over your options with you and give you a general idea of what you can expect to pay. We may also be able to suggest ways that you can save money on your care.
Every Dental Emergency is Different
The cost of your actual dental emergency visit is relatively low. We spend this appointment examining your mouth to figure out what treatment is necessary to restore your oral health. Once we have an idea of what services you require, we can give you a range of what you can expect when it comes to the overall cost.
Common emergency treatments include dental crowns, root canal therapy, extractions, and more. Rest assured that we will not recommend any sort of treatment unless we fully believe it’s the right choice for repairing and protecting your smile.
Does Dental Insurance Cover Dental Emergencies?
While dental insurance typically focuses on providing coverage for preventive care, most plans do offer benefits for emergencies. Usually, such coverage includes one emergency exam a year as well as partial coverage (50% to 80% in most cases) for services commonly associated with hurting or damaged teeth, such as root canal therapy. Every plan is different, and you will have deductibles and yearly maximums to think about; before you move forward with your emergency treatment, you should call your insurance provider to confirm the specifics of your care.
Other Options for Making Dental Emergencies Affordable
If you don’t have insurance, or if your plan doesn’t adequately cover the kind of care that you need, you may want to think about financing. We work with leading finance companies that offer plans that can accommodate a variety of budgets. You’ll be able to pay for your care in monthly installments instead of having to come up with the entire sum at once; that can help take a lot of the pressure off of paying for your treatment so you can focus on getting your smile the care that it needs.
Taking Care of Your Smile Can Save You Money
Not every dental emergency can be avoided, but you can potentially avoid tooth decay and other issues by practicing good oral hygiene at home and visiting your dentist at least two times a year. If you’re proactive about protecting your teeth, you’ll be less likely to suffer from a complex emergency that requires costly care.
If you notice a damaged tooth or dental pain, it’s in your best interest to call our office right away. You might be concerned about the costs, but ignoring the problem will only make it worse – and by that same token, more expensive to treat.
How to Prevent Dental Emergencies
At Kraft & Schrott Dental Associates, we have all sorts of options for treating injured or infected teeth, but there’s one solution for dental emergencies that we recommend above all others: don’t let the emergency occur in the first place! You can keep your teeth intact and the rest of your mouth safe simply by following a few simple tips. Read on to learn more about these strategies; if you have any questions for your emergency dentist in Boston, don’t hesitate to call us .
Maintain A Great Dental Care Routine
Tooth decay and gum disease usually start out as small problems; in fact, you may not even realize that they’ve occurred at first. Ignore them for too long, however, and you may end up needing a root canal or even a tooth extraction. Luckily, you can avoid this by brushing and flossing every day. Make sure you choose a small-to-medium sized brush that can get into the nooks and crannies of the molars near the back of your mouth, and don’t forget to use toothpaste that contains fluoride. Regular examinations and cleanings at Kraft & Schrott Dental Associates will compliment a great oral hygiene routine by making it easier to catch health issues early on.
Don’t Bite Down On Anything Extremely Hard
You may be putting too much stress on your teeth without really thinking about. For example, you might absentmindedly chew on popcorn kernels near the bottom of the bag, or you may start biting the tip of your pen when you’re lost in thought. These bad habits can wear down your enamel and even cause it to crack eventually. Pay close attention to what you put in your both and avoid chewing on any kind of hard object. (Sugarless gum is a far safer option if you find yourself in need of something to chew.) It should still be okay to put hard candy or ice in your mouth as long as you let them melt instead of trying to bite down on them.
Get a Mouthguard for Sports & Bedtime
Baseball, football, and other sports are fun, exciting options for staying in shape, but they can also result in accidents that knock your teeth loose. Even activities such as tennis that don’t normally involve much contact still involve fast movement, flying objects, and hard surfaces that post a threat to your mouth. Thus, you should get a mouthguard if you plan to participate in any sort of physical activity. It’s also a good idea to wear a mouthguard while you sleep in case you grind your teeth at night. In any of these cases, it’s always best to get a customized appliance from your dentist instead of buying one at the store.
Do Not Open Containers or Packaging with Your Teeth
Trying to open a package can be frustrating, but don’t use your teeth to try and speed up the process. Your mouth isn’t really designed to tear or open anything that isn’t edible, and you could end up damaging your smile by accident. Simply find a more suitable tool such as scissors.
Dental Emergency FAQ’s
You should be well-prepared to deal with a dental emergency long before one even occurs. After all, you don’t want to lose valuable time panicking when you could be taking steps to salvage your smile. Call our office if you have any questions about the emergency care we provide or what you should do on your own in a worst-case scenario. The questions below are just a few examples of the concerns that patients have brought to us over the years.
Will I Ever Need to Call the Emergency Room for a Dental Emergency?
Common dental emergencies – such as broken or infected teeth – are best handled by a dentist. The doctors at a hospital emergency room probably won’t have the training or tools required to repair dental damage or perform procedures such as root canal therapy that could be necessary to restore your health. They may be able to prescribe antibiotics, but that alone is unlikely to solve a severe oral health issue. You should only call an emergency room if your condition could actively put your life in danger; examples include unstoppable bleeding, severe cuts, a broken jaw, or any issue that makes it hard to breathe or swallow.
How Can I Tell If I Have a True Dental Emergency?
If a tooth is chipped but isn’t causing you pain, it’s typically not an emergency; you can wait until regular office hours to schedule an appointment. You can usually tell if you’re suffering from a true emergency if you can answer “yes” to any of the following questions:
- Is your mouth bleeding?
- Are you suffering from severe, persistent pain?
- Have any of your teeth come loose for any reason?
- Did the damage occur after you were hit in the face?
- Have you noticed any swelling in your mouth or around your face?
- Are there any bulges or knots that have formed on your gums?
What’s the Best Way to Prepare for a Dental Emergency?
Keep our practice’s number close at hand so that you can call us immediately if something goes wrong. It’s a good idea to create a dental first aid kit to help you get your situation under control as quickly as possible. Ibuprofen and other pain medications are a must, of course, but you should also include dental wax to protect broken teeth and cover sharp edges that might irritate the soft tissues in your mouth. Other necessities include dental floss, latex gloves, gauze, a small container to hold a lost tooth, and a cold compress.
Does a Knocked-Out Baby Tooth Count as an Emergency?
A baby tooth that was lost the normal way is nothing to worry about unless it falls out far earlier than it’s supposed to. On the other hand, if the loss occurs due to an injury, your little one should be seen immediately. We normally won’t try to replant the tooth, but we will perform an X-ray to see if any kind of damage has occurred underneath the gum line. It might be necessary for us to intervene to ensure that your little one’s adult teeth are able to erupt safely in the future.