Frequently Asked Questions - Dental Emergencies FAQ Search Know what you're looking for? Enter a few keywords and click search. FAQ Search SEARCH What is an emergency? In dentistry, an emergency is a potentially life-threatening condition that requires immediate treatment, including: oral-facial trauma cellulitis or other significant infection, especially if compromising the patient’s airway prolonged bleeding pain that cannot be managed by over-the-counter medications. What is urgent care? In dentistry, urgent care is the management and treatment of conditions that require immediate attention to relieve pain and/or risk of infection, including: severe dental pain from pulpal inflammation pericoronitis or third-molar pain surgical post-operative osteitis, dry socket dressing changes abscess or localized bacterial infection resulting in localized pain and swelling tooth fracture resulting in pain, pulp exposure or causing soft tissue trauma extensive caries or defective restorations causing pain dental trauma with avulsion/luxation final crown/bridge cementation if the temporaryrestoration is lost, broken or causing gingival irritation biopsy of a suspicious oral lesion or abnormal oral tissue replacing a temporary filling in an endodonticaccess opening for patients experiencing pain snipping or adjusting an orthodontic wire or appliance piercing or ulcerating the oral mucosa treatment required before critical medical procedures can be provided suture removal denture adjustments or repairs when function is impeded other procedures that in the dentist’s professional judgement are necessary in order to minimize harm to patients and/or relieve pain and suffering. What is non-emergent and non-urgent care? In dentistry, non-emergent and non-urgent care is the provision of routine or non-urgent procedures, including: recall examinations and routine radiographs routine dental cleanings and preventive therapies orthodontic procedures other than those to address acute issues (e.g. pain, infection, trauma) extraction of asymptomatic teeth restorative dentistry, including treatment of asymptomatic carious lesions cosmetic dental procedures, including teeth whitening.
