Rewinding the Years: Dental Care Tips for Older Adults

Dental emergencies can happen at any time and are most often the result of an accident of some sort. Dental insurance usually covers most of the emergency dental work you will need to restore your teeth to their positions and repair the broken ones. The following are examples of qualified emergency dental work.

Car Accidents

Without a doubt, the biggest cause of emergency dental work are car accidents. These are accidents which are so severe that patients have to have several teeth surgically put back and/or sealed to help them heal. You may even need to wire your jaw shut because the damage is so extreme the only way your teeth will repair themselves is if your jaw is completely immobile.

Kid-Type Accidents

These are the accidents every parent has nightmares about. A toddler who falls and breaks his or her teeth on the pavement, or a child who climbs a tree but falls out and lands face first into the ground are both qualified kid accidents needing emergency dentistry. Kids who play rough in pee-wee sports or school sports will also need emergency dental care at some point. In fact, if your child makes it to his or her late teens without a dental emergency, he or she is incredibly lucky.

Assault and Battery

It is very sad, but people do hurt each other physically to the extent that a dentist needs to help the victims put their teeth and jaws back together. If your partner hits you, and hits you hard enough to break your teeth or knock them out, get to an emergency room right away and call your dentist as you go. It is imperative that you not only seek medical attention, but also that you get your broken and knocked-out teeth cared for right away. If you are hit so hard that you are unconscious and awake in an ambulance, be sure to ask the paramedics if they rescued your teeth and/or called your dentist.

What Happens When Your Dentist Cannot Save Your Teeth

In the event that your dentist tells you it is too late to save the damaged teeth, there are dental replacement options that can help restore your smile. Most patients choose a partial or a dental implant to hide the fact that they have been in an accident or a brutal assault. You can discuss these options with your dentist when he or she notifies you that one or more teeth cannot be restored.