Why Don't Emergency Rooms Handle Dental Emergencies?

Anyone who has had a dental emergency knows how terrible it can be. The pain can be excruciating, the bleeding copious and the swelling frightening to look at. The cause may be something as simple as a broken tooth or a wound in the mouth, but the results could be bad. However, dental emergencies, as frightening and painful as they can be, are rarely life-threatening in themselves. Emergency rooms are meant to deal with serious, critical or life-threatening injures.

Emergency Rooms Are Not Equipped for Dental Emergencies

Dentistry is a specialized field of medicine and dentists have different qualifications and use specialized equipment in their treatment process that is different from other medical equipment or devices. This means that if an emergency room was to offer emergency dental service, it would need to invest in additional space, installing extra equipment and employing dentists to care for the patients who come in with dental injures. Hospitals across the country are under severe financial stress and often have difficulty in even maintaining their current standards of care. The burden of adding dental emergencies to the care services would be too much. Also, if there are resources available, would they not be better used in treating those with critical injuries?

The Numbers Are Frightening

On average, about 800,000 people in this country go to an emergency room for dental emergencies each year. In one state alone, there were 115,000 dental related visits to the emergency room in a year. The cost averaged out to $765 per visit, even though in most cases no real treatment could be provided. That means that the patients had to go to a dentist later which added to the financial burden. It is not possible to put into words the pain and discomfort that patients underwent until they got to a dentist.

Dealing with Dental Emergencies

The best way to deal with dental emergencies is to prevent them from happening. Accidents can happen anywhere,any time. But dental problems usually develop over time and become emergencies only because they are ignored. Regular dental checkups and oral hygiene will help minimize the possibility of emergencies arising. It is a trite saying, but prevention is really far better than cure.

Not all dentists offer emergency treatment, but if an emergency does arise, there are some dentists that you can go to for treatment. Search for "emergency dentist in San Jose" (or wherever you may live) and keep the contact details with you. Have a family dental care provider so that if an emergency arises, you can go to a dentist you know and who knows you and your dental history. That will make the treatment easier for the dentist and you.