Parma Emergency Dentist Archives - Parma Ridge Family Dental

Can I See a Dentist without My Parents?

Posted on April 13, 2019 by writeradmin.

My parents are out of the country. I was trying to grab a can of something from the top of the pantry and it fell and hit me in the mouth. My lip bled, but I thought other than that it was no big deal. This morning my front tooth feels a bit loose. I don’t want my parents to have to cut their trip short just for me to go to the dentist. This is their big anniversary trip they’ve been saving for years to take. Can I see the dentist on my own? I’m 17.

Karyn

Dear Karyn,

pretty girl smiling — When can you see a dentist on your own?

You sound very responsible and caring. It’s admirable that you don’t want to interrupt your parents trip. I’m going to say first, what is going on with your tooth is a dental emergency. You’ll need to be seen soon. In the meantime, don’t wiggle the tooth.

Your teeth have ligaments that are attached and help hold it in. Hopefully, those ligaments have just been stretched. If you wiggle the tooth, they could snap.

A dentist will take x-rays to make sure there is no internal damage and then splint the tooth while the ligaments heal.

Unfortunately, you are too young to be seen on your own. In most states, the age of majority is 18.

What I’d do is contact your parents and let them know what happened. It doens’t mean they’ll have to cut their trip short. Your parents will have to give signed permission for someone to serve as a medical guardian for you while they’re gone.

They may have already done this. If they haven’t, they can do it now and fax it over. If there is internal damage, your dentist will have to do a root canal treatment. Make sure whomever your parents pick is someone you’re comfortable with.

This blog is brought to you by Parma Dentist Dr. Gecovich.

Can Someone Else Be Billed for a Dental Emergency?

Posted on December 4, 2018 by writeradmin.

I think I have a dental emergency but don’t have any money. Can the person who caused the problem be billed for it? Here’s the back story. I was at a bar. There were a couple of guys playing pool. One of them was pretty drunk and getting loud and rude to everybody. He made a nasty comment to a gal near me and I suggested it might be time for him to head home. He responded by hitting me in the mouth with his pool cue. That started a fight which got several people booted out. The drunk included. When I woke up this morning, I noticed one of my front teeth was chipped, probably from where he hit me with his cue. It’s also a bit loose. I know I need a dentist. As I said, I’m broke. Can I bill the guy who hit me? I know who he is. He’s a regular at this bar.

Caden

Dear Caden,

Even knights rescuing a princess get dinged once in a while and need to repair their armor. Unfortunately, they can’t usually bill the dragon for it. I’ll explain why in a moment and what your options are. First, however, I want to go over what’s going on with your tooth.

You’ve mentioned three specific things: trauma, a chip, and a loose tooth.

We’ll cover the chip first because that’s the easiest and not a dental emergency. After everything else is taken care of, if the chip bothers you from a cosmetic standpoint, there’s a simple procedure called dental bonding which can “replace” the missing bit.

The other two issues you mentioned are more significant and do require an emergency dental appointment. Whenever you have tooth trauma, you need to see a dentist. They’ll do x-rays to determine if there’s damage to the underlying pulp which could require a root canal treatment.

The loose tooth, in situations like yours, often means the ligaments were stretched during the trauma. Your dentist will need to splint the tooth to promote healing of the ligaments and prevent the tooth from coming out.

Who Pays For Emergency Dental Care?

Legally, the dentist can only bill the person who is receiving the care, unless there is a prior agreement with a third party. So, if you can get Mr. Drunk to agree to pay and let the dentist know, he or she can bill him. Otherwise, you’ll accept the billing and can take the bill to him or, more likely, take him to small claims court for payment.

The good news is most dentists are compassionate and in cases like yours will allow you to pay out service instead of having to cover everything up front.

Best of Luck.
This blog is brought to you by Parma Dentist Dr. Rebecca Gecovich.

Dentist Won’t Fix Someone Else’s Work

Posted on August 17, 2018 by writeradmin.

I’ve had nightmares over getting this dental crown, and that wasn’t until after I got it! The procedure itself was fine. However, ever since he placed it, it’s been unbelievably painful. I’ve gone back and he adjusted it, but it didn’t help. The next day it broke. He replaced it but the pain stayed. He told me I’d adjust and now, a piece of it has broken off again. I decided to see a different dentist scheduling with an emergency dentist. I just wanted it repaired and hopefully in a way which would minimize the pain. He said he won’t repair it. It’s replacing it or nothing. I already spent a fortune on this. I don’t think I can afford anymore. Why won’t he just fix it? What would you do in my place?

Serena

Dear Serena,

I don’t think it’s a matter of the emergency dentist being unwilling to repair someone else’s work. It’s likely unrepairable. I’m not too keen on your current dentist’s skill. There are usually two reasons for pain with a dental crown:

First, is a continued infection. You didn’t mention if your first dentist re-did your x-rays. That would have revealed any further problems. Hopefully, the emergency dentist took that step and eliminated that as a potential problem.

Second, poorly placed crowns. This is likely your problem. The fact that it’s broken more than once, backs this up. Generally, your bite stress is spread out over all your teeth, However, when your crown is seated too high, it takes all the pressure from your bite which can damage the crown.

You can either give your dentist another try or allow the emergency dentist to re-do it. Either way, it needs to be replaced. In your place, I’d go with the emergency dentist or a completely different third dentist if you weren’t comfortable with him. Your dentist obviously doesn’t care enough.

However, the upside is, because it broke in such a short period of time you’re owed a refund. You won’t have to spend extra.

This blog is brought to you by Parma Dentist Dr. Rebecca Gecovich.

Did an Emergency Dentist Damage My Tooth?

Posted on January 30, 2018 by writeradmin.

I went in to see an emergency dentist because of a toothache. He did an x-ray and couldn’t find anything. However, he said based on my description of what I’m feeling he thinks the tooth is cracked. He offered to provide me with a crown right then. I agreed, but now I”m wondering if I should have gotten a second opinion. Something is still hurting and now the tooth next to the one he crowned is turning gray. Did he do something to damage the tooth?

Christine L.

Dear Christine,

There are a few possibilities here. Before we address those, I noticed you had to see an emergency dentist but didn’t imply it was an emergency appointment with your own dentist. Does that mean you don’t have your own dentist? If you do, most dentists will see established patients after hours for dental emergencies.

If you don’t have a dentist, is it because of dental anxiety or financial reasons. If it’s financial, there are dentists who’ll work with you on paying out the care you need. It’s actually cheaper to do regular maintenance than it is to wait until there’s an emergency. Most people think they’re saving money by avoiding their cleanings, but it usually ends up doing the opposite.

What Could Have Happened with this Emergency Dentist?

New Tooth Trauma

I started with this because even though it is not the most likely it is a possibility. There is always the chance that you just happened to end up with new tooth trauma directly adjacent to your crowned teeth. Like I said, not likely but possible.

Misdiagnosis

You mentioned the dentist couldn’t find anything wrong and gave his best guess at the cause of your pain. It’s a likely possibility that his best guess wasn’t correct. You could go for that second opinion you were considering. If it’s obvious on the x-ray what the actual diagnosis was and the dentist missed it, you would be entitled to a refund.

Simultaneous Injury

The most likely scenario is both teeth were injured at the same time, just in different ways. When a tooth is gray it means it is dead or dying. This will need a root canal treatment and probably a dental crown. You will need to see a dentist for that. You can either see a different dentist in order to get that opinion at the same time or go back to the original dentist and have him do the work.

This blog is brought to you by Dr. Rebecca Gecovich.