In an emergency, your first instinct might be to head straight to the emergency room, but this actually isn’t the best decision if the situation concerns your teeth. At the ER, most dental patients spend hours in the waiting room before being seen by someone with little to no dental training. Instead, should you ever require urgent attention, just call 333 Dental Care. We’ll provide the professional treatment you need without the wait--in fact, we’re often able to schedule same-day appointments for our emergency patients!
Emergency Dentist — Mangum, OK
Immediate Dental Care When You Need It Most
Why Choose Us for Emergency Dental Care?
- Hometown Dentist with 20+ Years of Experience
- Emergencies Typically Seen Same Day
- Dental Sedation Available for Maximum Comfort
What to Do in a Dental Emergency
- Step 1: Call us as soon as you can! We leave room in our schedules for emergency patients, so we will do everything we can to make a same-day appointment for you.
- Step 2: Get first-aid instructions over the phone. When you give us a call, we’ll walk you through what you should do next to manage your situation until you can reach us.
- Step 3: See your Mangum emergency dentist. When you arrive, Dr. Lively will see you right away to evaluate your emergency and provide immediate pain relief.
- Step 4: Review the findings and make a treatment plan. We’ll go over in detail which treatment options we recommend for your unique situation and work with you to create a custom treatment plan that works for you.
- Step 5: Get the fast, professional care you need. With a wide array of treatments and the latest dental technology, we’ll get to work right away repairing your smile. If needed, particularly anxious or uncomfortable patients may benefit from calming sedation options for maximum comfort.
The Most Common Dental Emergencies
There are two main types of dental emergencies – ones that occur suddenly, like a broken or knocked-out tooth, and those that develop slowly over time, such as a toothache. In either case, the best thing to do is call our dental office as soon as possible. Otherwise, any pain or damage will only become worse. After you contact us and before you can reach our dental office, however, there are a few things you can do on your own to help manage any dental emergency:
Understanding the Cost of Emergency Dentistry
Sometimes, we can treat a dental emergency with just a small filling. For others, we might have to extract and replace the tooth. In other words, there is no set cost of emergency dentistry in Mangum. However, don’t let financial worries deter you from seeking care; once our team has examined your situation and created a personalized treatment plan, we can walk you through the expected costs and your financing options, which include dental insurance and low- to no-interest payment plans through CareCredit.
All Dental Emergencies Are Different
Until Dr. Lively has had the chance to examine your mouth, it’s basically impossible for us to determine how much your emergency dental care will cost. After all, we can’t know which treatments will solve the problem if we don’t know its root cause. For instance, a toothache might be remedied with something as simple as a prescription of antibiotics, or it might require something more complex, such as a root canal and crown. Naturally, the severity of the procedures you need will impact your overall treatment costs.
Does Dental Insurance Cover Dental Emergencies?
If you have dental insurance, then you can almost certainly expect it to reduce the cost of your urgent dental care. The majority of dental plans provide partial coverage (usually between 50% and 80%) for services often used to treat broken or hurting teeth, such as crowns, fillings, and root canals. It’s also fairly common for dental plans to cover one emergency exam per year. Of course, the details will vary depending on the specifics of your policy.
We accept, file claims, and maximize benefits for basically any PPO dental insurance plan here at 333 Dental Care. We even offer in-network savings for many of the most common providers, including:
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Cigna
- Health Choice
- MetLife
- Assurant
- Delta Dental Premier
Other Options for Making Dental Emergencies Affordable
Maybe you don’t have dental insurance, or perhaps your plan doesn’t cover as much of your treatment as you had hoped. In that case, we accept CareCredit financing to make your emergency dental care more affordable. This third-party company offers multiple monthly, low-interest payment plans to choose from that come in various lengths. The shortest ones may even have ZERO interest at all! With CareCredit, it has never been easier to fit your dental treatment costs into your budget.
Caring for Your Smile Can Save You Money
While some dental emergencies occur for reasons beyond your control, many of them can actually be avoided if you take the right measures. For example, maintaining good oral hygiene and attending six-month dental checkups and cleanings can prevent decay and infections from turning into full-fledged emergencies, saving you quite a bit of money in the long run.
Additionally, it’s more cost-effective to schedule an emergency appointment with us as soon as you can after you notice a problem. You might be tempted to wait and save, but this may cause the issue to grow worse and ultimately require more expensive procedures.
Keys to Preventing Dental Emergencies
Dental emergencies can often be unsettling and happen when you least expect them. Although predicting or avoiding urgent situations isn’t always possible, various essential methods can help you significantly reduce your chances of one. Additionally, certain oral habits will need to be avoided, as they can dramatically increase your risk of more serious complications later on. To protect your pearly whites, here are five important tips to help you prevent dental emergencies in Mangum!
Visit Your Dentist Routinely
One of the best ways to avoid urgent dental situations is by visiting our team at 333 Dental Care every six months for checkups and cleanings. Not only will we thoroughly polish your smile by the end of your appointment, but we’ll also have the chance to monitor your oral health. We’ll check for any developing issues, such as gum disease or cavities, and provide any necessary treatment to keep them from becoming bigger problems in the future. You’ll also receive personalized preventive care so that you can effectively avoid these issues from starting altogether.
Maintain Good Dental Hygiene At Home
Besides your routine dental checkups, you must practice proper oral hygiene every day at home. This will typically involve brushing your teeth for two minutes twice a day with fluoridated toothpaste, as this will help remove harmful bacteria and strengthen your enamel. Be sure to also floss thoroughly at least once daily to get rid of any plaque between your pearly whites that your toothbrush can’t reach. Rinse your mouth with ADA-approved mouthwash often to wash out bad particles and maintain healthy gums.
Stick to a Nutritious Diet
Most people are aware that sugary treats can increase the risk of cavities, which can lead to a dental emergency if left untreated. However, foods that are high in carbohydrates and starches can also provide fuel for harmful bacteria to wear down your teeth. You’ll also want to avoid overindulging in beverages like energy drinks, sports drinks, and fruit juices, which are acidic and significantly weaken your tooth enamel. To promote a stronger and healthier smile, be sure to maintain a well-balanced diet that’s high in calcium, fiber, and vitamin D.
Wear a Mouthguard
Do you tend to grind or clench your teeth at night while sleeping? Are you involved in contact sports where there’s a risk of being hit in the face? If left unchecked, these cases can increase your chances of experiencing a dental emergency as your teeth can either wear down gradually or get knocked out accidentally. Be sure to consult our team if these are concerns, as we might be able to recommend professional products to address your specific situation. You could get custom-made nightguards for bruxism to preserve your enamel or athletic mouthguards to protect your smile.
Use Tools to Open Packages, Not Your Teeth
While it may seem tempting to save some time by using your teeth to open packages or bottle caps, this can land you a trip to your emergency dentist. If you accidentally chip or break your pearly whites, then you’ll have to receive restoration treatment, which can be costly in the long run. To avoid digging into your wallet for a dental emergency, be sure to avoid using your teeth to open containers, bite your nails, or hold grocery bags. Keep tools handy instead, and you’ll ensure your smile stays risk-free!
Dental Emergency FAQ’s
Have you never experienced a dental emergency before? There’s no reason for you to go through it alone. Our dentists are highly trained to manage and treat many different types of dental emergencies. If you have questions ahead of your emergency appointment, we encourage you to give a handful of the most common questions we hear at the office a read. In the event that you believe you may be having a dental emergency, call us as soon as possible.
Should I Go to the Emergency Room or a Dentist?
In most situations, a dental emergency is best handled by dentists and a team of dental professionals that know how to get you out of discomfort quickly. They also know how to find the root cause of your dental emergency and prevent it from worsening and happening again. An emergency room is unlikely to be able to help you with either of these concerns. However, if you are currently experiencing oral bleeding that does not stop or you believe your jaw is broken, head to the emergency room first, then our dental office after you have stabilized.
What’s the Best Way to Handle Tooth Pain?
One of the most common over-the-counter painkillers, ibuprofen, is quite effective at managing dental discomfort ahead of an emergency dental appointment. However, it should not be used as a replacement for a visit to our office, especially since dental pain rarely goes away on its own. Alternatively, you can rinse your mouth out with a saltwater mixture or hydrogen peroxide rinse. At the end of the day, the only way to prevent long-term tooth pain is to get a professional exam and treatment from a dentist.
What Should I Do If I’m Scared of the Dentist?
Quite often, people with dental anxiety tend to avoid going to the dentist regularly, allowing underlying issues to develop and turn into dental emergencies. This is precisely why we offer sedation dentistry at the office to help those dealing with dental anxiety, nervousness, or phobia and get the treatments they need to protect and restore their oral health. If you find it difficult to complete dental care, you can take advantage of nitrous oxide or oral conscious sedation at our office. Both of these options are designed for varying degrees of anxiety.
Are Knocked-Out Baby Teeth a Dental Emergency?
While most people assume that if a baby tooth comes out, it’s normal. However, it is possible for baby teeth to fall out too soon, either due to physical trauma or tooth decay that caused the tooth to rot. When baby teeth come out sooner than they are supposed to, it can cause permanent teeth to erupt out of the jaw before they have fully developed. For this reason, you should call our office if your child loses a baby tooth that should not have come out as early as it has. For example, back teeth should not be coming out before teeth that are visible in their smile.
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