How Much Does Emergency Dentistry Cost?

There are many factors that affect this response. For example, geographically, as in where you live creates different baseline costs, as well as the severity of the problem and how emergent it really is. Finally, the procedure necessary in itself to alleviate the pain. Let’s start with the primary cause of an emergency dental and then we’ll go through the ranges of costs for common procedures.

The Reasons for a Dental Emergency

Quite frankly, there are only two categories. An unfortunate accident or simple neglect. Anyone at any age can and will experience accidents. A child on the playground, a young adult in a pickup game of basketball or an aging adult tripping and falling, accidents happen. These often result in broken, chipped, fractured or chipped teeth.

A situation of neglect is just that, not caring for your teeth or gums resulting in cavities, infections and abscesses. Most of these can all be avoided with good oral hygiene habits but happen none the less.

Common Procedures in Emergency Dentistry

Your first step for any family member is to place a call to your family dentist. They will either answer, return the call or direct you on what to do if it is outside business hours. The most common reason for a dental emergency is a toothache. Can that discomfort wait until business hours? Or is the pain too great and an emergency room visit is necessary?

When it comes to an accident and a broken tooth the result might be a root canal. Or, even in the sense of neglect the tooth might be infected and will need a root canal. The range for this procedure is $700 to $900 for a front tooth, $800 to $950 for a bicuspid and $1,000 to $1,200 for a molar.

If the tooth cannot be saved and needs to be extracted costs can range for $75 to $300 for a non-surgical effort. If the extraction requires anesthesia it can be $200 to $600.

If the tooth has a cavity from a minimal fracture, decay from the enamel or otherwise damaged a filling can cost from $110 to $200 if the filling material is either porcelain or silver amalgam. If it is a resin-based composite material it can range from $135 to $240.

Any dentist will do everything they can to keep a natural tooth, even if it must have a root canal. After that a dental crown will need to be applied. Porcelain crowns for the front teeth or metal crowns for the molars will average between $1,200 and $1,400 per crown. A ceramic bonded material can be slightly cheaper averaging from $1,000 to $1,150.

How to Prevent a Dental Emergency

A mouthguard is all it takes to protect your teeth from an unfortunate accident in a sporting or physically active activity. Brushing twice and a day, flossing once a day and scheduling dental examinations twice a year will go a long way in protecting the health and condition of your teeth and gums and avoid that emergent dental situation.

More on Dental Emergencies : Emergency Dentistry for Children