Emergency Visits
First of all, if you have a life threatening emergency, serious bleeding, or feel like you're having a hard time breathing or swallowing, please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
You may be in a position where you have a broken tooth, visible swelling, or some serious pain (or even all three). You're not looking for a full examination; you just need the immediate problem looked at right away.
In this situation, we would schedule you for an Emergency Visit, also called a limited examination. Instead of looking at the whole mouth, we would focus on the one problem area and try to find the fastest, safest solution to get you comfortable and/or presentable.
What Can I Expect?
Intake – If you are new to our office, unfortunately we still need you to fill out paperwork. I wish we could eliminate this, but we need your information – contact, insurance, and health history. Safety first.
Chief Complaint – This is where you tell us what is broken or hurting.
X-rays – Most likely, we will need to take 1 or 2 x-rays of the area that is bothering you. It is very important for us to get a full view of the tooth or problem area to determine the cause of the pain or the extent of damage.
Examination – This is where one of our doctors reviews the x-rays and looks in your mouth to determine what the problem is. He or she may do some tests to understand what condition a given tooth may be in.
Treatment Plan – Depending on the problem, if it is something we can take care of in our office, we will discuss your options and give you a treatment plan that outlines:
- The procedures you may want to consider
- How much your insurance may cover
- How much your cost would be.
Occasionally, a patient will require the attention of a specialist, and we are happy to provide a referral.
Will You Fix It Right Away?
Depending on the treatment that is needed and whether we can accommodate you into our schedule, we may or may not be able to take care of the problem on the same day. If you are in pain, we always try to “fit you in.” But if we can't, we may have to give you a prescription for some pain medication and/or antibiotics and make an appointment for another day.
Will I Get Pain Mediation?
We take prescription pain medication very seriously and only give a prescription when absolutely necessary. We carry no prescription pain medication on the premises and only have over-the-counter versions (like Tylenol and Advil) in the office.
Can I Make an Appointment?
Please call our Canon City dental office at (719) 285-4784 and our staff will get you in as soon as possible. If you have dental insurance, please have it handy. If you give us that info ahead of time, we can start looking it up and have better estimates for you when you come visit us. Hang in there and see you soon!
