4 Questions Your Emergency Dentist Could Ask
Posted on: 26 August 2020
Emergency dentists ask their patients a range of questions to help them figure out what is causing their dental issues. Preparing answers to these questions in advance can help you give your dentist a fuller and more accurate picture of what is going on. Here are a few important questions that you should expect.
1. Where Is the Pain Centred?
By letting your emergency dentist know where your pain is centred, you can help them to go straight to the source of the problem. Dental pain often radiates from one part of the mouth to another, or even up into the ear and head or down into the neck. Try to be as precise as possible when describing where the pain started and where it is focused now.
2. How Would You Score the Pain Out of 10?
Dentists and other medical professionals try to avoid relying on vague descriptive terms such as 'mild' or 'very painful' when assessing pain. Instead, they might ask you to rate your pain on a scale from 1 (barely noticeable) to 10 (the most severe pain you can imagine). Try to be as honest as possible when rating your pain, as it is an important factor in a dental diagnosis. For example, severe pain might imply that there is an infection in your mouth that needs to be dealt with before the dentist can treat the root cause of the pain.
3. How Long Have You Had This Problem?
Before you attend an emergency dentist appointment, think back over the last few days and try to remember when your dental pain started. Did it start suddenly or gradually develop? If you think you might struggle to remember the timeline of your dental issue, keep a diary while you wait for an emergency dentist appointment. You can show this diary to your dentist so they have an accurate picture of the problem.
4. Did the Pain Start After an Injury?
Dental problems can be caused either by a dental illness, such as gum disease or tooth decay, or by an injury, such as being in a car accident or being hit in the face while playing a sport. Treatments are different in each case, so it is vital to tell your emergency dentist if an injury triggered your pain. Try to describe the inciting incident as succinctly and accurately as possible so your dentist can understand what happened.
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