No one ever wants to be associated with dental emergencies. However, they can happen to anyone at any given point in life. Dental emergencies are usually alarming, disrupting, and often threatening.

Although many of them can be managed before they cause permanent damage, it is not always the case. Some patients have to deal with the consequences of dental emergencies long-term. This is why dental experts stress the need for seeking emergency dentistry near you as soon as you suspect you have a dental emergency. Still, it is not always easy to identify a dental emergency. All oral problems merit the attention of a dentist. However, not all of them are significant enough to be considered oral emergencies.

What Are Oral Emergencies?

They are dental problems that are severe, urgent, and often advanced. They happen anywhere in the oral cavity so that it is not only about the health of your teeth. With dental emergencies, the cause can be different. For one, dental trauma can cause an oral emergency. However, in many cases, oral emergencies develop as a consequence of not attending to typical dental issues early.

Technically, all dental issues have the potential to turn into dental emergencies. For example, if you fail to treat a cavity early, it may advance into an abscessed tooth, a severely decayed tooth, severe toothache, to mention a few. All these issues can be termed dental emergencies.

How Do You Know You Have an Oral Emergency?

The easiest way to determine whether or not you have an emergency to tend to is by visiting a dentist near you. A thorough dental exam and diagnosis will help you determine for sure whether you have an urgent dental problem. However, if you are not considering that, here are some questions to help you make an educated guess:

1. Pain levels – how much pain are you experiencing? Can you bear the pain until a later time?
2. Daily routines – do the oral issues disrupt the daily routines of your life?
3. Threat to your health – does the oral problem threaten the health of your oral cavity and your body at large?
4. Urgency – do you feel like the issue needs to be treated immediately? If you are in a situation where you can wait to get treatment, then the oral issue may not quite be an emergency.

Signs that You Have an Oral Emergency

If you still have a hard time conclusively deciding whether you need to visit an emergency dentist in Fort Saskatchewan, consider the following signs as pointers that you have an oral emergency:

1. Heightening and excruciating pain – this features any pain in your oral cavity or surrounding parts of your body. Usually, the pain levels are so severe that you have a hard time going about your business. Not only that, but with dental emergencies, the pain only gets worse as you go.
2. Significant swelling – inflammation is a typical response of the body’s immune system to infections and other problems. However, if the swelling is too much and it keeps spreading to other parts of your body, call your dentist immediately.
3. Prolonged bleeding – whether from your gums or the different folds of your mouth, bleeding is a sure sign that you need to see your dentist. This is particularly so if the bleeding continues for an extended period. This means that you either have a serious infection in your mouth or an open wound that won’t stop bleeding.
4. Throat problems – many problems can arise in your throat when you have an oral emergency. They include a hoarse voice, difficulty breathing, swelling, difficulty swallowing, to mention a few. In most instances, such signs come up as a result of infections or an allergic reaction.
5. Affiliate symptoms – when something is wrong in your oral cavity, the mouth is not the only place that suffers. For the most part, you will experience different symptoms in your head, neck, and other areas of your face. Such symptoms range from swelling, body chills, fever, and tingling sensations, to migraines, nausea, and jaw lock.
6. Missing parts – whether your natural teeth or oral appliances, if you are missing any parts of your oral cavity, call your dentist immediately.