Communication is a two-way street, especially in the medical field. When it comes to dental emergencies, however, people tend to panic and clam up. If you think dental emergencies may be a problem in your household, make sure you have these questions answered before you call.
What Is The Nature Of The Emergency?
It’s important you know as much as possible about what’s going on. Did you break a tooth? Do you have an infection? Are you in so much pain that you can barely function? If you have the precise words, use them. That way the dentist will have a better understanding of what’s going on and what he can do to help.
What Is Your Pertinent Dental History?
Is there anything we should know about your dental history? Do you have a pattern of infections? Have you had recent work done that this may be coming from? Even if we did the work on you, we see a lot of patients and need you to be as transparent as possible.
How Immediate Is The Emergency?
Do you need to be seen right away, or can it wait a day? Infections should be seen right away. It’s possible that a broken tooth or pain can wait another day. We’ll give you advice on how to survive overnight.
What Insurance Do You Have?
The sooner we clear your insurance, the sooner we can get started. Have your insurance card on hand to give us the information we need to help you.
Being prepared is one of the most important things you can do before calling your dentist about an emergency. By knowing right away what’s going on, what may be causing it, and what you’ve done to help it, we can get you into the office quicker and fixed up with no problem.