Emergency Dental Patients are Special
We Take Special Care of Dental Emergencies
Our friends and colleagues often ask us why we see patients with dental emergencies. To the outsider, emergency patients make our team work harder, come in earlier, stay later and shoulder the stress of more serious dental conditions all in order to take care of their needs. Other dentists see these people as the exact opposite of the kind of patients they would prefer to see and our friends lament the time seeing these kinds of patients sometimes takes away from our families and friends. They constantly ask us, “Why do you put up with them?” The truth is, we honestly love emergency patients.
In dental school, we were taught that only “bad people” have dental emergencies. We were told that we should make them wait until we have scheduled time to take care of them. That they’re not “as good” as our regular patients because they don’t take care of their teeth on a regular basis, “like they’re supposed to.” We’re here to tell you that’s not the case!
There are many types of people who come in with emergency dental concerns and we believe every one of them deserves some of our time to help them get out of pain as soon as possible. Each of them has a valid reason for coming in with a dental emergency. We try to put ourselves in their place, to understand their frame of mind; no blame or shame, then we do our best to take care of them.
If you have a dental emergency go to the Shamblott Family Dentistry Emergency Dentist Appointment Request Page, Check out these suggestions for what to do in a dental emergency or call 952-935-5599 for immediate help.
Other Dentist’s Patients are Bitten By The Injury Bug
Once in a while, somebody gets hit by a baseball, falls off their bike, gets hit by a car or suffers some other terrible and catastrophic injury to their teeth. These are not planned, they are accidents and they can’t always be avoided. When accidents happen it isn’t because somebody did something wrong, they didn’t forego any preventative dentistry and they weren’t somehow neglectful but no matter what the reason, it can be a huge problem trying to find a dentist who will help address the situation and get the person affected out of pain fast.
There are lots of reasons folks end up at Shamblott Family Dentistry when they have a dental injury or emergency. Sometimes their regular dentist is closed and doesn’t come in for emergencies. Often, the ER can’t help them, even if they go there first. Usually, these folks find our office by doing a Google search for “Emergency Dentist,” or “Dental Urgent Care” once they figure out that their own dentist isn’t interested in working late, coming in early or, (gasp) on a weekend. So, we get the call instead and are happy to take care of them. It’s one of the reasons our hours are so broad – we genuinely want to take care of everyone and get them out of pain, even if they’re not “our” patient. We don’t think it is humane to have to wait, sometimes days or weeks, suffering in pain, just to get your dental emergency addressed.
Dental Fear, Anxiety or Phobia
Fear Of The Dentist Causes Many People Serious Anxiety and can lead to Skipping Regular Dental Care.
Some patients are simply too anxious or afraid: of the pain, cost, and/or time it takes to go see a dentist. These are people who wait until their pain is so bad they can’t sleep before a friend or relative drags them to our door. Sometimes it goes so far as to result in facial swelling or serious infection; one that, left untreated, can be life-threatening if we don’t address it right away. Our staff are experts in dealing with folks who, for whatever reason, have an emotional or even a physical reaction to visiting the dentist. We have several options to make patients more comfortable, like Free Nitrous Oxide, Sedation Dentistry, Movie Glasses and concerned, caring and patient staff members who are used to dealing with patients who are not thrilled to be there and have an emergency that needs to be taken care of immediately.
“I’m Too Busy to go to the Dentist if Nothing is Obviously Wrong”
Our lives sometimes don’t offer ready opportunities to make or keep appointments for routine dental exams, cleanings and the like. Some patients feel like they are too busy to go to the dentist. Usually, this is just a proxy for some deeper seated issues with anxiety or fear. However, with family, work and other commitments it can sometimes be difficult to prioritize dental health.
At our practice, we accept all of our patients without judging them. Again, it isn’t uncommon to have patients accompanied by a friend or relative who is concerned for their well-being. Most often, pain or inflammation has been ignored for too long and is now an infection that needs to be addressed right away.
In any of these cases, our reward is knowing that our patients are better off after visiting us. They are no longer in pain or, if they are, they have a clear path to getting out of pain soon. They can sleep, work and come back for treatment when they need it. This allows us to sleep at night, knowing we’re treating all people the same and helping everyone who comes to our door; regardless of their reasons.