Why we provide emergency dental care
Dr. Raffa, provides emergency dental care to ensure that patients can get the help they need right away. By leaving a damaged or infected tooth in your child alone, you risk the chance of an infection spreading.
Why should I take my child to you for emergency dental care instead of going to the ER?
While the physicians at the emergency room are skilled at treating health emergencies, they are not familiar with dental care. They can triage any problem your child has by helping to stop the bleeding, but they will not be able to restore a damaged tooth. Likewise, if you take your child to an emergency room due to dental pain, they can provide your child with pain relief; they cannot find out what is causing the pain and work out a plan to solve it. This is why you need to visit the dentist instead. Remember that even if you go to the emergency room, your child will still likely need to visit the dentist anyway. If you live in Watertown, MA, you can visit us for emergency dental care instead and save yourself time and money.
What types of procedures does an emergency dentist perform?
At Pediatric Dental Arts, Dr. Raffa, provides the same type of services that you can receive during a traditional dental visit. The two most common issues that we address during emergency dental visits are damage to teeth and toothaches.
Damage
It is fairly common for teeth to become damaged in an accident. This can happen due to a standard car accident, injury at school, sports accident, etc. While most children do not think about cracking a tooth while playing a game of basketball, it happens. These casual, everyday events can lead to sudden tooth damage. When a child does damage a tooth, you need to be sure to have it repaired. While providing emergency dental care, we can fix a tooth that has been cracked, chipped or knocked out.
If your child needs an immediate dental restoration in Watertown or the local area, visit our office. For fast results, we can use dental bonding. This is a resin, tooth-colored material that can be placed on top of your child's tooth, molded to the shape of the tooth, and hardened using a special dental light. It can be completed in one sitting, so that your child can walk in with a chipped tooth and leave with a fully restored one. Other solutions, like dental bonding and dental crowns, are also available to correct damage. However, these typically require two visits to do so.
We can also provide emergency dental care if your child's tooth has been knocked out due to an accident. We may even be able to put the tooth back in your child's mouth if you can find the tooth, rinse it off, place it in a cup of milk and then come to our Watertown, MA dental office right away. Otherwise, we can discuss options that may include dental bonding. All of these are possibilities that can appear completely natural, so to learn more call (617) 924-1911.