As New Jersey has a stay-at-home mandate in place due to COVID-19, it may be more challenging to receive timely dental care. While we are unable to accommodate any routine appointments at this time, Hamilton Dental Associates is doing doing our best to provide emergency services based on the severity of the issues at hand. If you’ve suffered an accident while staying at home and need to repair a cracked tooth, residents of Mercer County NJ, Monmouth County NJ and beyond are encouraged to reach out to our offices.
With that said, defining what constitutes an emergency will be beneficial both for yourself and our offices during these stressful and uncertain times.
What qualifies as a dental emergency?
Some examples of dental emergencies that could need immediate attention include:
- Your tooth has been knocked out or has fallen out
- Your tooth is loose and in danger of falling out
- You are experiencing persistent bleeding from your gums or from a tooth
- Your tooth is cracked or chipped with severe pain
- Home remedies cannot control the pain or solve the problem (keeps you up at night)
- Facial trauma
- Pericoronitis or gum pain from unerupted back molars
- Uncontrollable third molar or wisdom tooth pain
- Facial swelling, intra-oral swelling or severe inflammation related to trauma, persistent tooth pain, or previous tooth pain
If you are experiencing any of these issues, then contact our offices immediately, so we can determine how to treat you best. For more minor issues, such as common toothaches, we recommend using home pain remedies for the time being.
Does this issue need to be addressed immediately?
Due to the unique circumstances, it may be possible that even in an emergency, we can’t get you into our offices right away. Some issues may be able to be addressed through a prescription for antibiotics. Others may need an office visit to resolve. With that said, the longer you can provide home remedies and prevent the problem from getting worse until you can be seen, the better. For example, tooth pain can be abated by the use of over the counter medications such as tylenol or ibuprofen. This does not downplay the severity of the issue, but it will buy you some time while a dental visit is difficult to come by.
Can I do anything to remedy the problem at home?
Anything you can do while you are home to address any dental problems you may have will be helpful. Using acetaminophen and cold compresses for tooth pain relief will help you feel better until it is safe to go back to the dentist’s office. Having a dental first aid kit handy will also help solve any minor problems that may arise at home. This kit might include gauze, salt, temporary tooth filling, and pre-bought tooth-saving solution, both of which are typically available at your local pharmacy.
Contact HDA for Emergency Dental Services
Whether you need to address a loose tooth or undergo a tooth extraction, Burlington County, NJ and the surrounding areas can rely on Hamilton Dental Associates for handling dental emergencies during this time. Caller volume may be unusually high during this time, so please be sure your issue qualifies as an emergency when reaching out. For more information on what qualifies as an emergency, or if you are looking to be seen for emergency dental services, contact us today!
