How to Handle a Dental Emergency During a Pandemic

Are you experiencing a dental emergency during Covid-19?

While things may be very different in many areas of your life there is one thing that will never change, the need for emergency dental care.

But how do you handle a dental emergency safely during these times, while respecting social distancing guidelines? Here are a few tips and some advice for managing dental emergencies in a global pandemic.

What is the extent of your dental emergency?

The first thing to do is to determine whether you have an urgent dental emergency that needs a dentist’s immediate attention. If you have any of the following symptoms, please call us right away:

• Chipped, broken or knocked out tooth
• Toothache that you cannot remedy yourself with over-the-counter pain medication
• Severe swelling on your face, neck or mouth
• Ulcers in your mouth
• Lost crowns or fillings
• Sore or bleeding gums
• Sensitive teeth with no relief

The New Covid-19 Regulations

During your visit to our office during a dental emergency, you may notice that it looks somewhat different than it does under normal circumstances and that protocols and extra precautions are in place to keep our staff and patients safe.

If you have a dental emergency, you can rest assured that we are equipped to manage it safely. Learn more about our COVID-19 protocols here.

How should I handle a dental emergency during a global pandemic?

We have had plenty of time at this point to adjust to the new rules surrounding routine visits to the dentist's office, but what about in an emergency? Here are a few actions you can take:

Contact us early. Don’t hesitate to call if you are experiencing a dental emergency. We can provide advice over the phone and get you in as soon as possible. Bookmark this post, or type "dentist near me" into your favourite search engine and our information will likely pop up.

Apply ice. Hold an ice pack or cold compress to the affected area.

Locate the lost tooth. If you’ve lost a tooth, try to locate it and rinse it with water. Hold the tooth in the socket it fell out of, or place it in a container of milk. Your dentist may be able to attach it.

Answer screening questions. When you contact our office, your dentist or their staff will ask you pre-screening questions to learn whether you have any COVID-19 symptoms. If you do, we can refer you to another office or make alternate arrangements.

Wear a face mask and use hand sanitizer. Wearing a face mask and using 70 to 90 percent alcohol-based hand sanitizer upon entering or leaving the building are two precautions to take.

Respect social distancing guidelines. We will get you an appointment as soon as possible. If you do need to wait in the waiting room, you’ll find chairs spaced 2 metres apart. Unlike before, there will be no reading materials or unnecessary items in the waiting area to reduce surfaces that need to be disinfected.

Dentists will wear protective gear. In addition to surgical face masks, your dentist and their staff will wear personal protective equipment during in-person appointments.

Attend your appointment alone. Plan to attend your appointment alone (exceptions are made for children or people who require assistance).

Pay via touchless payment. Most dental clinics are only accepting cashless payments at this time so be sure to plan for payment accordingly.

Do you have questions about how to move forward to emergency treatment during Covid-19? Our Peterborough dentists can help answer your questions.