ER vs Emergency Dentist: How to Choose between Them

You’re playing a competitive game of basketball with your friends. Your teammate passes you the ball, and you make your move toward the hoop. Despite having a defender close by, you shoot, confident that you’ll score. As you land, the defender’s elbow hits you in the mouth. Play stops as your friends gather around to make sure you’re all right. Your mouth is bleeding slightly and one of your teeth has been chipped from the impact. You know that you need to get urgent help, but do you need to go to the emergency room or your emergency dentist?

These situations can be stressful to say the least, and your first instinct may be pointing you toward the ER; however, the doctors there often do not have the training or equipment to help you in a dental emergency. They can alleviate pain, but they will not be able to perform emergency dentistry. Basically, you’ll just be wasting your time, energy, and money with the ER visit. Other times, however, more serious medical treatment may be needed before addressing your teeth. In this blog post, you’ll learn when you should go to the ER and when you should call your dentist.