Dental Emergency

Aka: Dental Emergency, Acute Dental Conditions, Dental Trauma

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II. Epidemiology

  1. Dental visits account for 3 million ED visits in the U.S. per year (40% are uninsured, 30% Medicaid)
    1. Most visits are for temporizing measures until definitive dental care can be obtained
    2. Hong (2011) Public Health Rep 126(2): 210-9 [PubMed]

III. Causes: Emergency Dental Visits

  1. Dental Infection
    1. Apical Periodontitis or Apical Abscess
    2. Periodontal Cellulitis
    3. Acute Necrotizing Ulcerative Gingivitis
  2. Life-threatening Dental Infection complications
    1. Ludwig Angina
    2. Descending Necrotizing Mediastinitis
  3. Dental Pain
    1. Dental Caries (reversible or Irreversible Pulpitis)
    2. Pericoronitis (associated with wisdom Tooth Eruption)
    3. Atypical Odontalgia (idiopathic Tooth Pain)
  4. Dental Trauma
    1. Tooth Fracture
    2. Tooth Luxation
    3. Tooth Avulsion
    4. Post-surgical (e.g. after root canal or extraction)
    5. Cracked tooth (or split root syndrome)
    6. Barodentalgia (air trapped under filling)
      1. Form of Barotrauma seen in scuba divers

IV. Causes: Other orofacial conditions

  1. Jaw Disorders
    1. Temperomandibular Joint Dysfunction
    2. Temporomandibular Articular Disc Displacement
    3. Jaw Dislocation
  2. Salivary Gland Disorders
    1. Sialoadenitis
    2. Sialolithiasis
  3. Oropharynx disorders
    1. Pharyngitis
    2. Tonsillitis
    3. Group A Streptococcal Pharyngitis
    4. Peritonsillar Abscess
    5. Retropharyngeal Abscess

V. Procedures

  1. Dental Incision and Drainage
  2. Inferior Alveolar Block
  3. Periapical Block (Supraperiosteal Dental Anesthesia)
  4. Dental Splint

VI. Resources

  1. The Dental Box Videos
    1. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUqoiEyRGhGjr7eOL0ii-CA

VII. References

  1. Broderick and Deak (2015) Crit Dec Emerg Med 29(1): 2-8

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