Keeping our patients’ smiles whole and healthy is always our top priority, and skilled Greensboro dentist David M. Fisher, Jr., DDS, and his dedicated team focus every patient’s treatment plan on prevention. Despite our best efforts in partnership with patients, we can’t always prevent every dental emergency. If you or a loved one needs emergency dentistry help, do not hesitate to call our Greensboro dental office. If we can’t see you immediately, our team will walk you through caring for your smile over the phone and help you manage any pain until you can reach our office.
Why Choose Dr. David M. Fisher, Jr. for Emergency Dental Care?
Dental Insurance Welcome & Flexible Financing Available
Compassionate Dentist with Over 2 Decades of Experience
Advanced Technology & Sedation Options for Maximum Comfort
Your first step during a dental emergency is to take a deep breath. Then, pick up the phone and give our team a call. From there, here’s what you can expect:
Schedule your appointment: We’ll do everything we can to see you as quickly as possible. We’ll also instruct you on how to best handle your emergency until you can reach our office.
Get an emergency exam from Dr. Fisher: When you arrive for your appointment, your Greensboro emergency dentist, Dr. Fisher, will examine your mouth and take any necessary X-rays.
Review the findings and make a treatment plan: Dr. Fisher will then go over his findings and work alongside you to create a custom treatment plan.
Get the care you need right away: Whether you need a filling, a dental crown, or something else entirely, we’ll get to work right away to preserve your teeth and help get your oral health back on track.
The Most Common Dental Emergencies
We’ve equipped our office with the latest dental technology and equipment to ensure you get the quickest, most efficient, most comfortable treatment. Our compassionate team has plenty of experience dealing with all the most common dental emergencies, including the following.
The last concern that should be on your mind while seeking out emergency dental care is whether you can afford the cost of your treatment. Our team is here to help make receiving the urgent treatment you require stress-free, simple, and affordable. Learn more about what factors can impact the cost of your visit by reading below.
Every Dental Emergency is Different
It’s important to keep in mind that there’s no set cost for dental emergencies in Greensboro. This is because the treatment you may need can vary depending on several factors, like the extent of the damage and how invasive the procedure is. Before we provide you with the cost, we’ll need to conduct a thorough examination of your teeth and gums to diagnose the issue. Some of the most common dental emergency treatments we perform include:
Tooth extractions
Dental crowns
Fillings
TMJ treatment
Before we begin any treatment process, our team will discuss all of your options with you in detail to make sure you know what to expect, including a cost breakdown.
Does Dental Insurance Cover Dental Emergencies?
Most dental insurance providers offer some type of coverage for emergency treatment. However, it’s important to remember that every plan is different. Our team will work closely with you to make sure you understand your benefits and are fully aware of what you’ll be responsible for paying for when you leave the office. A good rule of thumb to help you get an idea of your coverage is the more invasive the treatment, the more expensive it is. This means that it will likely only be partially covered by your insurance provider.
Other Options for Making Dental Emergencies Affordable
At the practice of Dr. David M. Fisher, Jr. DDS, we’re happy to offer additional financing through CareCredit for our patients who don’t have dental insurance or find themselves in need of another way to pay. This is a third-party financer that offers flexible, little-to-no-interest payment plans that can accommodate almost any budget. If you have questions or need help learning if you qualify, feel free to contact our office.
Save Big by Avoiding Dental Emergencies
Even though accidents happen when you least expect them, making them impossible to avoid, most occur because of untreated, smaller oral health problems or overlooked risk factors. By investing in preventive dental care, like semi-annual checkups and cleanings, and making sure that your teeth are protected from habits like teeth grinding and contact sports, you may be able to save thousands of dollars over the years.
As soon as you’re aware of oral discomfort or dental damage, it’s important to visit an emergency dentist in Greensboro right away. This will keep the issue from becoming worse and requiring more invasive and costly treatment.
How to Prevent Dental Emergencies
While not every broken, knocked-out, or painful tooth can be avoided, there are plenty of ways to keep your teeth safe and prevent dental emergencies in Greensboro. After all, the saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is especially true when it comes to taking care of your smile! A few simple precautions and healthy habits can go a long way toward keeping your teeth healthy and strong for years to come. Read more below to learn more about the most effective ways to prevent dental emergencies.
Visit Your Dentist Regularly
Many people wonder if they really need to visit the dentist twice a year if their teeth look and feel fine. In short, the answer is a resounding yes! A wide variety of serious oral health issues like oral cancer, gum disease, and dental infections can develop without you seeing or feeling them. Routine checkups twice a year are the best way to spot and stop any issues as early as possible, while they’re still small and easy to treat. In fact, one of the main goals of these appointments is to prevent problems from developing in the first place.
Maintain Good Oral Hygiene Habits at Home
The easiest way to protect your smile from a dental emergency is to practice great oral hygiene. If you don’t brush and floss your teeth every day, harmful oral bacteria can build up and eat away at your enamel and lead to infections in your teeth and gums. Not only are these issues painful, but they can also cause permanent damage that earns you a trip to your Greensboro emergency dental office. Thankfully, you can keep this from happening by regularly caring for your smile.
Stick to a Nutritious Diet
You probably already know that overindulging in sugary foods can quickly lead to a mouth full of cavities. However, that’s not the only way your daily diet influences your oral health. Chewing on hard snacks, eating sticky foods, and drinking acidic beverages wear down your enamel. Eventually, this can lead to chipped, sensitive, and decayed teeth. Instead, make sure to eat plenty of foods high in calcium and vitamin C for a natural and delicious way to keep your smile healthy.
Wear a Mouthguard
A custom-made sports mouthguard is an essential piece of safety equipment for anyone who plays sports. These little appliances play a big role in protecting your teeth from chipping, breaking, being shoved out of place, or being knocked out completely.
You may also need a mouthguard if you grind your teeth in your sleep. This condition (bruxism) places extra pressure on your teeth every night, slowly wearing them down and leaving them more vulnerable to damage. A custom nightguard can encourage your jaw to relax and protect your pearly whites as you sleep.
Use Tools, Not Teeth to Open Packaging
If you’re in a hurry, feeling lazy, or very excited, it may seem convenient to use your teeth as a tool. However, this shortcut could easily cost you more time with your Greensboro emergency dentist! Your teeth are incredibly strong, but using them to open a plastic bag, bottle, or other type of package can quickly weaken or damage them. Keep your smile safe by always using the right tools for the job!
Dental Emergency FAQs
Should I Go to the ER for a Dental Emergency?
If you or a loved one experiences a dental emergency, it’s important to understand where to receive the best care possible. For severe head injuries, jaw trauma, excessive bleeding, and any problems that affect your breathing, you should go to the emergency room immediately. These problems are life-threatening, and time could play a factor in how well you can recover, which is why it’s vital to head to the ER for assistance as soon as possible.
For other situations like broken teeth, lost fillings, infections that don’t affect your breathing, and more, our office should be your first stop. Dr. Fisher can expertly treat a wide range of dental problems to get you out of pain and ensure the health of your smile.
Can a Knocked-Out Tooth Be Replanted?
Losing a tooth can be incredibly traumatic and not to mention painful. However, the biggest question that patients have is if their teeth can be replanted. The answer is yes, there’s a chance, but you must come into our office as soon after the emergency as possible. If you can get to us within 30-90 minutes, there’s a chance that your emergency dentist in Greensboro can successfully replant your tooth. Any longer and he may recommend various restorations like a dental bridge or dental implant.
Are Sensitive Teeth an Emergency?
A tooth that hurts whenever it touches something hot, cold, sweet, and/or acidic is described as “sensitive.” The symptoms can come and go over time, and the cause isn’t always clear. If you’ve only recently noticed that your teeth have become sensitive, you need to schedule an appointment as soon as you can. The discomfort you feel might mean that the enamel protecting your tooth has become worn down or damaged, potentially exposing it to an infection. In other words, the sensitivity itself might not be an emergency, but it could be a symptom or precursor of a much more serious oral health issue.
Is a Knocked-Out Baby Tooth an Emergency?
Adult teeth will ideally last the rest of your life, but baby teeth are meant to fall out. Because of this, it is sometimes possible to treat a baby tooth that was knocked out in an accident as if nothing unusual happened. With that said, there is a risk that the permanent tooth underneath was damaged in the accident; furthermore, the alignment of your child’s bite could be thrown off if they lose a tooth long before they were supposed to. If your child unexpectedly loses a baby tooth, schedule an appointment with us so that we can figure out the appropriate next steps.
Toothaches
Is my toothache a dental emergency? Everyone has experienced a toothache at some point or another, so how can you tell if yours needs urgent dental care? Your tooth pain could indicate a serious oral health issue that needs treatment right away if:
The pain is distracting, severe, or lasts more than 24 hours
There’s a small bump on the gums near the painful tooth
You feel a sharp, jabbing pain when you bite down
The painful tooth looks darker or discolored
You experience signs of a serious infection, such as swelling, fatigue, or fever
How you should handle a toothache: Tooth pain is often caused by decay that irritates the central nerve of the tooth. However, to make sure it isn’t just something stuck between your teeth, try to rinse and floss around the hurting tooth. If it continues to hurt, take an over-the-counter pain medication and use a cold compress to manage any discomfort or swelling until you can reach us. You can also rinse with salt water to clear away any harmful bacteria.
How we treat toothaches: We won’t know how to treat your toothache until we’ve had a chance to evaluate you. Since so many different issues can cause dental pain, there are a variety of different treatments we may use. Some toothaches can be addressed with a filling, crown, or antibiotics, while others may require a root canal or tooth extraction. Once we’ve learned more about your toothache, we’ll explain all your treatment options and help you pick the best one.
Is a chipped tooth a dental emergency? A chipped tooth doesn’t usually need to be treated immediately. However, since enamel cannot repair itself, you should still come to see us as soon as possible so we can make sure the damage doesn’t get any worse.
How you should handle a chipped tooth: Wash your mouth out with water to clear away any lingering fragments of your chipped tooth. If there are large broken-off pieces, collect them and store them in a clean container to bring with you to your appointment. Until then, don’t use your injured tooth to bite or chew. If needed, you can cover it with dental wax or sugarless gum to protect your lips and cheeks from any sharp edges.
How we treat chipped teeth: In most cases, we’ll be able to restore a chipped tooth quickly and easily with tooth bonding. This uses a color-matched shade of composite resin to fill in the damaged area until it looks like a natural part of your enamel. If you’ve chipped a highly visible tooth and want to ensure you achieve optimal aesthetics, you may want to consider veneers as a slightly pricier alternative.
Is a cracked tooth a dental emergency? When your enamel becomes damaged, the sensitive inner layers and pulp of your tooth are left vulnerable to further damage, decay, and infection. We must treat your cracked tooth right away to keep the problem from getting worse.
How you should handle a cracked tooth: Try to locate any missing pieces of your tooth and bring them to our dental office. Rinse your mouth out with warm water or salt water. If swelling is present, apply a cold compress to your face in 10-minute intervals. Avoid biting down until you get to our dental office.
How we treat cracked teeth: The most common treatment for a cracked tooth is a dental crown, which is designed to fit over the entire visible portion of your tooth. This reliable restoration will strengthen the tooth and protect it from any further damage. However, if the tooth is damaged beyond repair, we may need to extract it and discuss your tooth replacement options.
Are very sensitive teeth a dental emergency? Tooth sensitivity is a common oral health issue that many patients face every day. The most common cause is tooth decay or thinning enamel, which requires timely, but not immediate, treatment. However, tooth sensitivity can sometimes be a warning sign of a true dental emergency, so it’s best to call us right away if your tooth sensitivity is getting worse or lingers for longer than 30-60 seconds.
How you should handle sensitive teeth: The first thing you should do is give our office a call. We’ll help you evaluate your situation over the phone, and we’ll give you personalized instructions for what to do next. In some cases, sensitive teeth can be treated at home with specialized dental products or changes in brushing and flossing habits. In other cases, we’ll schedule you for an appointment right away and instruct you to manage your discomfort with over-the-counter pain relievers, numbing mouthwashes, and a diet without spicy or sour foods.
How we treat tooth sensitivity: How we treat your tooth sensitivity will depend entirely on what’s causing it. We may simply need to fortify your enamel with a fluoride treatment or fill a cavity with a filling. Sometimes, a personalized nightguard for bruxism or a custom dental crown are the best options. In rare cases, we may recommend gum disease therapy.
Is a knocked-out tooth a dental emergency? Knocked-out teeth are true dental emergencies that need to be treated as quickly as possible and handled carefully. A lost tooth has a greater chance of being successfully reattached if you can reach us within 30-60 minutes of the accident. That’s why time is of the essence in this situation!
How you should handle a knocked-out tooth: If you can find the knocked-out tooth and it is not in several pieces, rinse it off with water. Wash away any foreign debris carefully while leaving the root/natural tissue as intact as possible. If you’re able to, gently place the tooth back into its original socket, hold it in place, and make sure it’s facing the right way. If this can’t be done, place it in a cup, plastic bag, or small container with a lid filled with milk or saliva and bring it with you to your appointment.
How we treat knocked-out teeth: The tooth needs to stay moist to stay viable. If you store the knocked-out tooth properly and reach us within an hour, we will likely be able to reimplant it. We’ll carefully reposition it into place and will likely splint it to the nearby teeth to keep it in place as it heals over the next several months. However, if the knocked-out tooth is damaged, lost, or no longer viable, we will need to discuss your tooth replacement options, such as a dental bridge or dental implant.
Is a lost filling or crown a dental emergency? While this issue might not cause any pain initially, it’s recommended to get it fixed right away before the tooth develops any additional damage or decay. We highly recommend you call us right away so we can schedule an appointment to see you within the next few days.
How you should handle a lost filling or crown: Find the restoration, rinse off any debris, and try to place it back onto the tooth — a dab of toothpaste or dental adhesive can help with this. If it won’t stay in place, simply keep the restoration in a clean container and bring it with you to your appointment. If you are experiencing pain or sensitivity, take an OTC pain reliever or cover the tooth with dental wax or sugarless gum. Avoid chewing on the injured side of your mouth.
How we treat lost fillings or crowns: First, we’ll make sure that the vulnerable tooth is safe and healthy. If needed, we’ll treat the tooth before replacing the restoration. A filling or crown that is largely undamaged may simply be recemented into place, but it will likely need to be replaced entirely to ensure your oral health is protected.
Is my broken denture a dental emergency? If you are dealing with a broken denture in Greensboro, do not wait to get in to see us. Immediately call our dental office to schedule an appointment. It is necessary we fix the problem before you reinsert your prosthetic and continue wearing it.
How you should handle a broken denture: It is best to avoid wearing your denture until you see Dr. Fisher. Should you continue to try and wear a broken or busted prosthetic, you could accidentally cause more damage to your soft oral tissues and regular teeth. Only in dire circumstances should you consider a denture repair kit.
How we treat broken dentures: After examining your broken denture, we will determine if it is minor or major damage. If minor, we may be able to fix it easily without negatively impacting its function. However, if the break is too severe and causes your prosthetic to no longer be of use, we will need to either have a new one created or discuss the potential for switching to dental implants. Because these titanium posts are surgically placed into your jawbone, they offer greater stability and functionality while also a longer lifespan.
Is a loose permanent tooth a dental emergency? It is expected for a child to lose a tooth as they prepare for their permanent teeth to erupt; however, adult teeth should never become loose or fall out. If you are experiencing a loose tooth in Greensboro, it’s time to see us right away, as it is a dental emergency.
How you should handle loose permanent teeth: It’s best never to poke or prod a loose tooth. You could accidentally cause it to fall out or damage more of your natural tooth. If it begins to bleed because of facial trauma, you’ll need to bite down gently but firmly on clean gauze to stop any bleeding. Anytime an extruded or knocked-out tooth is the problem, time is of the essence if we are to try and save it.
How we treat loose permanent teeth: The reason for your loose tooth will allow our team to decide the best course of action. If gum disease is destroying your bone and teeth, it will be necessary for us to administer periodontal therapy to try and restore your gum health. If the tooth is too badly damaged and cannot be saved, we may need to extract it before discussing replacement options. The status of your jawbone will depend on the type of restorative care you receive, but if you are considering dental implants, you may need a bone graft before moving forward. You may also choose to have a dental bridge put in place if you prefer a less invasive option.
Is an injury to the gums, lips, or tongue a dental emergency? Soft tissue injuries are not necessarily urgent; however, if you cannot get the bleeding to stop after 10 minutes, you need to get to your local emergency room for immediate medical attention. Once they can control the bleeding, you can come to our office for more thorough treatment.
How you should handle an injury to the gums, lips, or tongue: The good thing about these types of injuries is they often heal quickly. Placing clean gauze on the area for 10 minutes to stop the bleeding is essential. Also, rinsing out your mouth to remove any debris can help minimize the potential for infection.
How we treat injuries to the gums, lips, or tongue: Your emergency dentist in Greensboro will look to see if the injury requires stitches before discussing how the incident occurred. If facial trauma is the cause of your busted lip or swollen tongue, you’ll need to consider getting a customized mouthguard created so you can wear it while engaging in physical activity.
Is jaw pain a dental emergency? Serious jaw pain can certainly be a dental emergency if you do not seek help soon enough. When you notice pain throughout your face, neck, shoulders, and teeth, it can become debilitating, especially when you try to perform normal daily tasks (i.e., eating, chewing, smiling, talking).
How you should handle jaw pain: When calling our office to alert us to your situation, our dental team will schedule you an appointment while also providing at-home tips to help alleviate the pain. We will likely suggest facial massages and stretches, an over-the-counter pain reliever, a cold compress to minimize pain and reduce any inflammation, and giving up bad habits (i.e., using your teeth as tools, eating ice, chewing on inanimate objects like pens and pencils).
How we treat jaw pain: Depending on the cause of your jaw pain, Dr. Fisher will discuss treatment options designed to reduce the pressure placed on your jaw joints and facial muscles. If you are prone to teeth grinding (bruxism), it may be necessary to have a customized nightguard created to reduce wear and tear on your tooth enamel and give your jaw joints a break from continuous pressure. If temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) is a concern, you may need to seek appropriate therapies to prevent worsening oral health problems.
When an object becomes stuck between your teeth, you may be tempted to reach for a toothpick or another sharp-edged tool. Instead of potentially damaging your soft oral tissues and teeth with metal objects that should never enter your mouth, use waxed dental floss or a water irrigator to push out the object. These are safe and effective tools your dentist will recommend that are designed to remove particles and food without negatively impacting your teeth and gums.
