Emergency Dentist - Winter Park

While we can not promise same-day treatment (but we will always offer it if possible), this appointment aims to identify the cause of your issues, put a treatment plan together, and typically provide some method of managing the symptoms until appropriate procedures can be started.

What does this mean?

One common example is patients experiencing a toothache in the back of their mouth that has persisted for several days, and the pain is starting to keep them from sleeping.

During our urgent care appointment in Winter Park, our staff will assess the area of the mouth that is giving the patient problems, typically taking a diagnostic X-ray to aid in understanding the issue, and our dentist will provide an examination of that area. In our example, the dentist may see a large cavity on a molar tooth that has become infected.

Once the dentist and staff have arrived at the likely root cause(s) of the symptoms, a treatment plan is put together with one or multiple options. In the earlier example, this could be to extract (pull) the molar tooth, which has decayed beyond restorative services (can no longer save the tooth). Additional follow-up plans may also be presented to include replacement of that molar with partial dentures, dental bridge, or implants.

If same-day treatment is unavailable, it may be due to

1. The existing office schedule for that day already being reserved for other patients.

2. The patient not being ready

3. A specialist is required.

   In that case, we seek to help the patient manage the symptoms. In the case of our example of an infected molar tooth, this may be through prescription medication for antibiotics and pain management medication. The antibiotics would be intended to help to reduce the infection until an extraction could be performed. In a less severe example, irritation of the gums or mouth sores may be managed for several days with warm salt water rinses or mouthwashes while looking for improvements before pursuing more involved procedures.

If a specialist is required, such as an infected molar, which may require an Oral Surgeon to properly extract, we will provide at least one referral to a nearby specialist. We strive to maintain a good understanding of the local area specialists so we can provide referrals that are both comfortable for the patient and able to use their dental insurance effectively. If you need help scheduling with a specialist, our front desk staff and receptionist are happy to help you.

Our most common reasons for Urgent Care appointments are:

• Dental/tooth/jaw pain that is new and concerning

• Patients experiencing a cracked or chipped tooth

• Patients experiencing abnormal sensitivity

• Broken dental crowns, bridges, or retainers

Our Urgent Care appointments are typically 30 minutes long, but we reserve 60 minutes on our schedule in case we can provide some form of same-day treatment or remedy for managing the issue.

Unfortunately, we cannot provide dental cleanings with an Urgent Care appointment, as they follow a different schedule altogether. If you are having trouble finding an appointment for a cleaning, please give our office a call, and we will try our best to help.

In some cases, patients may not be experiencing any acute or immediate dental issues but still want to be seen as quickly as possible. Our most common situation for this is someone who does not need a dental cleaning on the same day and would like to focus their visit on diagnosis and treatment planning only. For example, a patient who has not been to a dentist for some time and would like a full comprehensive exam and x-rays can be seen as an appointment without a cleaning. Alternatively, some patients have multiple concerns during their Urgent Care appointment, and instead of having multiple small exams, we would offer to perform a single comprehensive exam and x-rays to get a complete picture of their dental health and planning.

One important note: the name of this appointment is "urgent care" because it is not intended for emergency services. For any life-threatening emergencies, we advise all patients to visit an Emergency Room (ER) Medical Center or dial 911 for emergency services. 

You can book an appointment online to browse our schedule, but if you need an appointment as soon as possible, please give us a call directly so one of our staff can help find you the soonest available.

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