What You Need to Know to Prevent Your Dental Issue from Becoming a Hospital Issue

Tooth pain can generally be managed through pain medications or natural remedies until you can see a dentist. When the pain becomes more than an over the counter pain medication can handle, you may choose to visit an emergency dentist in your area. If the pain subsides you may forget about it and only remember when it comes back up. This cycle can eventually result with you in a hospital bed instead of a dentist chair.

If you want to avoid dental issues, consider these following key points about your dental health.

Complete All Antibiotic Prescriptions

If you have already been to your dentist, and they provided you with an antibiotic prescription you need to take the entire prescription as directed. Part of this reason is due to some dentists requiring the full use of antibiotics prior to dental procedures. The antibiotics will not only help reduce inflammation and infections they can also be a form of preventative treatment to assist you with the procedure and making it through the dental process with little to no infection or related issues.

If you do not take the full course of antibiotics you could risk issues during a procedure, such as infection spreading to do blood exposure during the dental process which may result in a hospital stay.

Don't Ignore Swelling

You may think that swelling in your gums may be due to brushing to hard, food particles stuck in the gum line, or other related issues. If you have rinsed, brushed, flossed, and even tried a minor dose of ibuprofen and the swelling is still there then you need to seek dental care immediately.

Your dentist can order X-rays to determine what the underlying issue is. If it is an infection they can prescribe antibiotics then treat the cause of the infection. Swelling can also be a sign of an abscess that can lead to major medical complications like a brain abscess.

Don't Avoid Follow-up Appointments

If you went to your dentist, or an emergency dentist, with tooth pain you may have been told to schedule an appointment for a follow-up visit. This visit would be to determine what the cause of your tooth pain is and how to best treat it. It would also be to schedule procedures that may need to be handled as soon as possible, such as root canals. If you skip these appointments you could run the risk of the pain or the tooth issue becoming worse. If it does become worse you may have to be placed in the hospital for treatment. 

The key point to remember with avoiding hospital stays due to dental issues is to make an appointment with your dentist at the first sign of a problem. Let the dentist work with you to determine the best course of action, stick to that care plan, and be honest about your budget if it is an issue. Your dentist can refer you to affordable options and to other alternatives that may help. Connect with resources like Shellharbour City Dental to learn more.


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