As an emergency dentist in Indianapolis, IN, we know that the summer months are among the busiest and most hectic for emergency dentists everywhere. This is typically due to an increase in physical activity and fun events. Summer season is vacation season, as over 88% of families pack up and head out on holiday. With all this travel comes an inherent risk of accidents. In fact, most of the summer has risks of an incident, and for 1 in 6 people those incidents will land them in the treatment room of an emergency dentist. Let’s face it, summer is a time of fun, family, and frolicking. As people enjoy the sun, eating mounds of barbecue, and going to pool parties, the idea of an accident is the furthest thing from their mind. Unfortunately, people also surround themselves with ways to get into accidents during this fun time. Pools, for example, are notorious for causing accidents as water leaks out and causes slippery sides and a number of slip and fall accidents. From volleyball at the beach, where we have had patients lose a tooth by getting hit in the face, to waterboarding accidents, we have seen it all as an emergency dentist in Indianapolis, IN, and we know that we will see a lot of new cases this summer.
For us, being prepared to treat all types of tooth damage is the number one priority. As an emergency dentist in Indianapolis, IN, we are prepared for any emergency but there are two things that you should remember. These will help you to save your teeth and also make treating you a lot easier.
First when you have a dental emergency, you should have easy access to an emergency dental provider. A lot of dentists do not provide emergency services, so taking a few minutes to add our phone number to your contact list could save you a lot of heartache if you do have an incident. If you are going on vacation, take the time to identify who can provide you both medical and dental healthcare in an emergency. Even if you are at home, the last thing you want to be doing is searching for a dentist that can treat you in the evening or on a weekend. Preparation is essential, both for you and for us because timing is also critical.
When you have a dental emergency it is critical to treat it like an emergency. A lot of patients treat medical emergencies with urgency but seem to think a dental emergency is not as serious. It is if you intend to save your teeth. Here is an excellent example. Say that you have an unfortunate incident with a whiffle bat during the company picnic. Did you know that, if you have a tooth knocked out, you only have around 5 minutes to place it back into the socket in your mouth before the ligaments holding the tooth start to suffer permanent damage? You need to hold it in place with light pressure and get to an emergency dentist in Indianapolis, IN, immediately if you want to have a chance of saving your tooth. Fortunately, regardless of what happens, we can help.