If you find yourself in the midst of a dental emergency in New Braunfels, know that our experienced, compassionate team at Comal Dental is here for you. We offer same-day emergency appointments for those who are in pain because your comfort and well-being are our top priority. No matter what situation you face, we’ll make quick work of diagnosing the issue at hand and treating it. Please don’t hesitate to call our office immediately if you’re experiencing any out-of-the-ordinary pain or symptoms.
Why Choose Comal Dental for Emergency Dentistry?
Same-Day Dental Emergency Appointments
Sedation Dentistry Available
Advanced Diagnostic Technology
How We Treat Dental Emergencies
Give our office a call. It’s best to contact us as soon as you notice something wrong with your oral health. Over the phone, we’ll provide first-aid instructions to help you manage your situation while you wait for your appointment.
Have an emergency exam. When you get to our office, we’ll thoroughly evaluate your condition and take X-rays to identify the root cause of your problem. Based on our findings, we’ll create a custom treatment plan to get your smile back to normal.
Get the care you need. During your visit, we may administer pain-relieving treatment to temporarily ease your discomfort. However, you might need to return for additional care to fully address your problem. Some common solutions for dental emergencies include fillings, dental crowns, root canal therapy, gum disease treatment, or extraction.
The Most Common Dental Emergencies
Dental emergencies can be a very stressful experience, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do before coming to our dental office. Our team is more than ready to help you manage your dental emergency over the phone and provide useful advice however possible. In the meantime, you can review our helpful tips below for managing some of the most common dental emergencies we see.
When you have a toothache caused by an oral infection or you’re suffering from an oral injury due to a bad fall, you should have a place you can call your go-to home for getting it treated effectively. At Comal Dental, we’ll make sure that your dental emergency is not only handled properly, but that you understand what you can expect in terms of cost beforehand, so there are no surprises when it comes to your care.
Keys to Preventing Dental Emergencies
Not every dental emergency is entirely avoidable. However, there are several steps you can take to drastically reduce your chances of experiencing one. Some of those precautions include:
Visit Your Dentist Twice a Year
Unfortunately, many patients only call us once they are experiencing abnormal symptoms, like persistent sensitivity, bleeding gums, and pain when biting down. At this point, the damage is done, and restorative care is needed to address the root of the problem. Our goal as your New Braunfels dental team is to prevent tooth decay, periodontal disease, damaged restorations, and other common oral health problems altogether with routine checkups and cleanings! So, if it’s been more than six months since you visited us, it’s time to get your next appointment on the calendar.
Practice Good Oral Hygiene At Home
In addition to visiting us twice a year for a dental checkup and teeth cleaning, you need to practice good oral hygiene at home to protect your smile from harm. The first habit we recommend adopting is brushing your teeth for a full two minutes twice a day. Then, floss and rinse with an ADA-approved mouthwash each morning or evening. Together, these best practices will dramatically reduce your chances of common oral health problems developing, like a cavity between your teeth.
Stick to a Healthy Diet
Simply put, what you eat impacts your oral health. For this reason, we encourage our patients not to over-indulge on sugary foods. We also recommend steering clear of extremely crunchy foods, like hard pretzels, since they can lead to a serious chip, crack, or fracture. Instead, stick to a well-balanced diet filled with foods that benefit your teeth and gums, like fresh fruits and vegetables.
Wear a Mouthguard During Physical Activities
It goes without saying that you need to wear a mouthguard when you’re playing football, basketball, or another contact sport. What many patients don’t consider is the importance of wearing one during non-contact sports, like skateboarding. It may seem unnecessary, but this small dental device can prevent common dental injuries, like a knocked-out tooth, if you accidentally fall. So, if you don’t already have one, contact us so we can have a custom mouthguard made for you.
Break Bad Habits
Smoking is a habit that can wreak havoc on your oral health, but it’s not the only one that can damage your smile. Biting your nails, using your teeth as tools, and chewing on ice cubes can also lead to dental damage, like a chipped tooth or a large crack in your enamel. Even if you haven’t had any problems yet, you could in the near future, so do your best to break habits like these sooner rather than later.
Dental Emergency FAQs
No one wants to have to endure a dental emergency, but if it happens, it helps to be as prepared as possible. We’ve treated our fair share of dental emergencies in New Braunfels, and we’ve noticed some common questions from our patients. Because being properly educated can play a huge role in effectively responding to these situations, we’ve listed the top questions we receive below. If you find yourself dealing with a dental emergency, we’re here to help you recover, so don’t hesitate to contact us.
Should I go to the ER or an emergency dentist?
In most cases, your emergency dentist should be your first choice for receiving emergency dental care. However, there are two situations that you should immediately head to the emergency room for: profuse oral bleeding that has lasted for longer than 10 minutes and a broken jaw. For any other type of emergency, you can schedule a visit to our office.
Do I need to receive emergency dental care right away?
The best way to prevent a dental emergency from becoming worse is to reach out to our office the moment you discover any troubling symptoms. Hesitation can be quite detrimental, even if any pain or other indicators have temporarily eased up. As a rule of thumb, oral health issues don’t right themselves without being treated, so don’t place your recovery on hold.
Will my dental insurance cover the cost of an emergency visit?
As the word ‘insure’ denotes, you want to know that in the event of an unforeseen situation, you have some coverage available to protect you. While the benefit levels can vary by plan, you can bank on having some form of coverage to receive the care you need to restore your oral health if a dental emergency happens.