What to Expect When You Have a Dental Emergency Appointment During COVID 19
Emergency dental appointments are currently being handled differently due to COVID 19. Learn about what happens, before, during, and after your appointment.
COVID 19 is a pandemic that has transformed the way we live our lives. Globally, our ways of life had to change almost overnight, to curb the pandemic’s spread and safeguard our loved ones and us from succumbing to the COVID 19 pandemic.
We can no longer do the simple things we used to enjoy, like freely interacting with family and friends at barbeques or birthdays, simply because such environments encourage the spread of the virus.
The same applies to our dental routines. Regular visits to our dentist have had to be put on hold due to the directive issued in March this year, which mandated dentists to undertake only emergency dentistry services and postpone any elective and routine dental procedures.
During this time, we have managed to help our patients maintain their oral health and manage any mild dental problem and infection via tele- medicine.
Our dentist is however available to handle emergency dentistry cases, which pose a great risk to the oral health and overall well-being of any of our patients.
What Should You Consider A Dental Emergency?
It is vital that you are able to distinguish clearly between a dental emergency and a non- emergency.
However, in the case that you cannot really tell whether your dental problem qualifies as a dental emergency or not, our dental team is available to give you an on call consultation and guide you on what to do next.
These are some of the dental issues that are regarded as dental emergencies during the COVID 19 pandemic:
- A severe and persistent tooth ache that is affecting your sleep and ability to function properly
- Wisdom tooth infection that is accompanied by a severe tooth ache
- An abscessed tooth indicated by persistent tooth sensitivity, fever, swollen gums and a tooth ache
- Knocked-out tooth
- Excessive bleeding after a dental procedure such as an extraction
- If you need to have stiches removed or dressing changed after your surgical emergency dental procedure
- Excessive and persistent bleeding due to a facial injury or within your oral cavity
- Any facial swelling around your oral cavity
- Persistent jaw bone pain
- A broken or chipped tooth that is causing a tooth ache
- If you need to get a biopsy conducted on an abnormal tissue within or around your mouth
- Adjusting orthodontic prosthetics such as braces that are hurting your gums or cheeks
We help guide our patients using tele-medicine sessions on how to remedy mild dental issues such as tooth sensitivity, bleeding gums and loose dental crowns.
However, if you require emergency dental services and need to pay our dentist a visit, there are some guidelines that you will be required to adhere to.
This is based on the current COVID-19 update that has seen new guidelines being rolled out to facilitate and ensure the safety of dental teams and patients alike during treatment procedures.
Before Appointment Guidance
Before you can come in for your dental appointment, our staff will ask you some questions on phone, regarding your current health status and probable exposure to the COVID 19 virus.
This information is vital to help us ascertain that you are healthy and will not be exposing other patients and our dental team to the virus. These same questions may be repeated on your arrival at our facility to double check on your current well-being status.
You may also be required to minimise on the number of people who accompany you to your dental visit to avoid overcrowding within our facility.
At Your Appointment Guidance
When coming in for your dental appointment, ensure you come in wearing a face mask, as is mandated across most states. In addition to this you may be forced to wait outside the office in case we are currently attending to another patient.
This is designed to help us cut back on having several people mingling within the waiting room at any given time. Your temperature will be taken when you come in for your session, and you will have to sanitise your hands and items you touch such as pens and clipboards as you sign in.
Our dentist will wear extra protective gear such as face shields and goggles, and use disposable covers on the equipment and dental chairs, which can be thrown out after every patient session.
After Appointment Guidance
We conduct thorough cleaning and disinfecting after every patient visit, making sure to disinfect all the surfaces you came in contact with during your visit. This is a precautionary step we take to curb the spread of the virus.
In case you start exhibiting any COVID 19 symptoms 14 days after your dental visit, kindly contact us as soon as possible.
This may indicate that you probably already had the virus during your dental appointment, and we will need to reach out to any staff or patients you interacted with on your visit to get them tested for the virus.
At Rifle Dental Care, we are available to guide you through any dental issues and concerns you have. Give us a call today and let us ensure your oral health stays on track.