Expat Choice | 24 Hour Dentist in Singapore - What is a Dental Emergency and What You Should Do

Having a toothache can be really annoying especially if that happens on public holidays, during a vacation, on a weekend or even at night. The pain can vary greatly, from mild discomfort to unbearable ache. Some of the common causes of toothache are infection, root canal exposure, gum disease, jaw joint disease, and others. In such situations, it is important to contact an emergency dental clinic as soon as possible.

What is considered a dental emergency?

Severe tooth pain that doesn't resolve even over the counter painkillers, accidents, broken tooth - all of these situations would certainly warrant you to seek emergency dental assistance. Pain and swelling would be the big ones. The dental emergency is something that's very important and people often need it. It can be anything from an abscess, swelling, or inflammation dental clinics will take care of it immediately.

But what does it really mean a dentist emergency? To clarify this we will give you some simple examples.

What if all of your teeth are sensitive to hot or cold and it causes pain? It is pretty often when people experience mild to moderate pain around the gums of the teeth and most of the time it is related to warren dentition gum disease, gum recession. This is not necessarily an emergency but it is something that you want to have looked at by your dental professional anyway. In this case, it would not be appropriate to seek an emergency dental service. It can be seen the following days during normal operating hours.

What do you need to do if there is pain on chewing or pain that radiates up into your eye, or close to your ear? This pain is an emergency. In this case, you need to call the dental centre immediately and schedule an emergency appointment. This type of pain may be related to severe inflammation around the gum tissue. Some of the procedures require root canals, oral surgery procedures, or even tooth extraction.

What are the most common dental emergencies?

The most common dental emergency is dental pain. Most of the time it is related to inflammation in teeth or gum tissue. Toothache can occur due to different reasons and it can have different origins such as:

Trauma often leads to painful cracks or fractures in the tooth. Fracted teeth caused by accidental injury or trauma can sometimes cause pain or discomfort. It is a common situation in young people, athletics, or kids. Fractured teeth can be restored with a filling or a crown. When pain is involved sometimes root canal therapy must be performed. If the entire tooth including the root comes out of the socket due to trauma it should be manually replaced into the socket and you should see a dentist immediately.
Infection or local dental abscesses can trigger toothaches. It may require an X-ray or CT scan and root canal. Sometimes, the tooth can't be saved and need to be a pull.
Dental decay that has been sitting under the surface for a while. It reaches a threshold and starts to bother. Sometimes the tooth where decay is much more serious can cause abscesses, swelling, and pain. That situation requires a root canal to be remedied.

Toothaches can almost always be successfully treated by extracting the tooth or performing root canal treatment.

What do you do if you have a dental emergency?

Depending on the emergency and the severity of your condition the best thing to do is contact your dental clinic as soon as possible. Hopefully, you have clinics that you are established care with and you give them a call and find out how they want you to proceed.

What happens if you are travelling and if you have a dental emergency while you are away? The first one you should take travel insurance with you. Second thing - you need to take an emergency kit with you where you need to include your painkillers and some anti-inflammatory. Once you come back you need to see a doctor.

Another option is to speak with a host hotel's front desk staff because they have dentists on call specific to the hotel. If the dental issue is a minor one like a missing filling could possibly wait for remedy. During this situation is still a good idea to obtain professional assistance even if you can't make a scheduled appointment.

The dentist can provide you with info on pain alleviation and temporary answers until you are able to see a dental professional. For example, wisdom teeth pain can get on a barrel and occur suddenly. This may require a couple of visits to the dentist and even a wisdom tooth extraction. However, during this period the pain can be manageable.

However, if you start experiencing sudden pain in your wisdom teeth, it may be unbearable depending on the cause of the pain. If that happens on public holidays, in the middle of the night, or just after normal operating hours, visiting a 24 hour dental clinic or dental centre for emergency dental services can be your only option.

Can you go to the ER for a dental emergency?

If you have damaged a tooth in an accident, the emergency room will be able to stop the bleeding, but will not be able to repair the tooth itself. On the other hand, emergency dentists offer all the dental services you may need so not only can repair, replace, or save a damaged tooth, but they can also provide specialized emergency care for you.

If you have dental emergencies such as pain, swelling, or infection going to the hospital emergency department is probably not the best option. Most hospital ER are unequipped to treat dental conditions and injuries and most patients seeking dental treatment in eds receive only antibiotics and pain medication and are referred to dental providers in the community.

They can't do comprehensive or definitive care for the patient such as extractions or work canals depending on the type of emergency that is needed. If a patient presents with where they cannot swallow, they cannot take their medications, they are having problems breathing those would be indications that they must to go to the emergency room right away and not go to their dentist right away on that. If there are problems with vision changes because the swelling is getting too great those are all examples where you must be seen emergently.

How do you find 24 hours dental clinic in Singapore?

The best way that you can get support from an emergency dental centre in Singapore as quickly as possible is to find a local dentist by using Google. Nowadays everybody has access to a search engine. If you open Google and type in "emergency dentist Singapore" as search text plus your location or city it will lead to a good number of dental services.

Ensure that you are contacting a 24 dentist or an emergency dentist prior to phoning as frequently this method can contact you to a regular dentist who doesn't offer 24-hour dental service. An option especially when you are overseas would be to look for dental help for the nearest dental clinic or hospital.

Finding a 24/7 dentist or dental clinics open on Sunday in a rush can often be difficult particularly if you are experienced a dental emergency. Speaking can often be a challenge in its own right so being able to find a dental professional and overcome the symptoms has to be your first priority.

How to handle a dental emergency?

Here are some temporary first aid measures to hold you until you get your emergency appointment:

Clean and apply a cold compress to the injured area if you bit your lip or tongue.
If you break a tooth you need to rinse your mouth with water. Then you can put a cold compress and call the dentist clinic. Do not scrub or brush the root surface.
If your dislodged tooth is dirty clean it with water.
If you have a toothache try using floss to remove any material caught between teeth.

What are the charges for a dental emergency in Singapore?

The current attendance fee at the National Dental Centre Singapore is $121 per visit, as in private dental clinics the price may be different. This includes a basic examination and diagnosis. Some further procedures and interventions will cost more, but the final price depends on the urgent treatment that you need.

On average, going to a 24 hour dental centre will cost slightly more as it requires to have dentists on call to be able to treat patients without an appointment at all hours of the day.

From shattered tooth to ruin dangers, there is a huge range of dental difficulties you may be experiencing. We've attempted to cover the most common problems here but our very best advice is to make contact with an emergency dentist for his guidance.