Five Tips for choosing an emergency dentist

Five Tips for choosing an emergency dentist

When selecting an emergency dentist, there are several things to consider. It is important to select the right dentist in order to make the process of recovering from a dental accident or infection much easier.

By the time a dental emergency happens, it is usually too late to spend time looking for a dentist online or asking a friend for referrals.

While the emergency room can treat other wounds and injuries, it does not have the tools, equipment or the staff ready to handle dental emergencies. When the unexpected happens, it often happens at an inconvenient time. One of those unexpected events could be a dental injury. A broken tooth or lost filling is never planned, and it doesn’t always happen during your dentist’s office hours.

These things happen all the time, which is why emergency dentists are often on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

With that in mind, we recommend choosing an emergency dentist before it is necessary. Here are some tips to make it easier to find one:

  1. Look in your area

In a dental emergency, no one wants to drive an hour to find a dentist. It is important to visit an emergency dentist within 20 or 30 minutes from the places that a family visits most often. This way, you do not have to travel a long distance in case you face an emergency situation. If a patient has to drive far in an emergency situation, it can only increase stress and anxiety levels.

  1. Find one who accepts your dental insurance plan

Ask a dentist if they accept the family dental insurance. If they do not, it is good to know this prior to visiting them in an emergency. The insurance provider can also give a list of dentists who accept the plan and are open to treating patients on an emergency basis.

  1. Inquire about their hours

An emergency dentist is one who is available at night, on weekends and on holidays. Find out what hours an emergency dentist is open. If there is a concern that a dental emergency may happen in the evening or weekends due to an event , it is wise to find a dentist who is open during those times. Otherwise, finding a dentist who accepts patients on an emergency basis is good.

  1. Find out what services they provide

Ask a dentist what services they offer. An emergency dentist Rockville Md who treats patients on an emergency basis and also handles dental restorations will make life far easier. If that same dentist practices cosmetic dentistry and can restore the tooth using multiple solutions, there will be no need to have the rest of the dental work completed somewhere else.

  1. Ask what ages they treat

Find out what ages a dentist treats before a dental emergency strikes. Make a point to inquire about the age range a dentist cares for so that when an emergency strikes, your family heads in the right direction.

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9 Replies to “Five Tips for choosing an emergency dentist

  1. Thanks for the great tip to find an emergency dentist that is no more than 30 minutes away from places your family visits, as time is vital during dental emergencies. My friend actually lost one of his permanent teeth in an accident, and that got me thinking about how I could prepare for something like that. I’ll be sure to use this tip to find a great emergency dentist in my area, so thank you for sharing.

  2. I really like your tip to try and find a dentist that is open on the weekends and on holidays, that way you can know that they are available for any emergency. My daughter has a retainer that she wears every day, and my wife is worried that the retainer is going to snap and scratch our daughter. I will be sure to tell my wife that she doesn’t have to worry about that if we get a good dentist!

    1. Thanks for the response in regard to a good dentist, Mark and I wish the best for you and your daughter and wife! 🙂

  3. I have been thinking about finding an emergency dental service in advance so that I will be prepared if any member of my family needs emergency services and I am glad that I found this article! You make a great point that you should look for a service that accepts your insurance plan and is within about 20 minutes of your home. This way I can have peace of mind that we will not have to travel far if there is an emergency situation.

  4. A friend of mine is always having dental issues, and we were curious about how you would find the right person to take care of it. I really like that you say to ask the dentist if they accept family insurance. That way, you know your insurance will be accepted before you end up there in an emergency.

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