In dentistry, an emergency is a potentially life-threatening condition that requires immediate treatment, including:
- oral-facial trauma
- cellulitis or other significant infection, especially if compromising the patient’s airway
- prolonged bleeding
- pain that cannot be managed by over-the-counter medications.
In dentistry, urgent care is the management and
treatment of conditions that require immediate attention to relieve pain and/or risk of infection, including:
- severe dental pain from pulpal inflammation
- pericoronitis or third-molar pain
- surgical post-operative osteitis, dry socket dressing changes
- abscess or localized bacterial infection resulting in localized pain and swelling
- tooth fracture resulting in pain, pulp exposure or causing soft tissue trauma
- extensive caries or defective restorations causing pain
- dental trauma with avulsion/luxation
- final crown/bridge cementation if the temporary
restoration is lost, broken or causing gingival
irritation
- biopsy of a suspicious oral lesion or abnormal
oral tissue
- replacing a temporary filling in an endodontic
access opening for patients experiencing pain
- snipping or adjusting an orthodontic wire or
appliance piercing or ulcerating the oral mucosa
- treatment required before critical medical
procedures can be provided
- suture removal
- denture adjustments or repairs when function is
impeded
- other procedures that in the dentist’s professional
judgement are necessary in order to minimize
harm to patients and/or relieve pain and suffering.
In dentistry, non-emergent and non-urgent care is the provision of routine or non-urgent procedures, including:
- recall examinations and routine radiographs
- routine dental cleanings and preventive therapies
- orthodontic procedures other than those to address acute issues (e.g. pain, infection, trauma)
- extraction of asymptomatic teeth
- restorative dentistry, including treatment of asymptomatic carious lesions
- cosmetic dental procedures, including teeth whitening.
