FYI America… your dental emergencies do not belong in the ER.
Dr. Robert Crim, Chief Dental Officer at Smile Brands Inc. wants to educate people nationally to the right course of action in a dental emergency.
As the medical community is being overwhelmed with Coronavirus care, it is critical to minimize unnecessary visits to emergencies rooms.
With many dental offices closed for care nationally, more and more patients with dental emergencies are unfortunately heading to already overwhelmed ERs.
But the fact is that these facilities are not equipped to perform dentistry and the most a dental patient can hope to receive at the ER or urgent care are prescriptions for pain management and antibiotics.
"Our offices are partnering with local hospitals to make sure we can accommodate their emergency dental cases during this crisis," explains Crim. "It's important to educate the public not to burden ERs with dental cases they can't treat," said Dr. Crim.
With many dental practices closed down due to the current crisis, some patients are having a difficult time finding an available provider.
"Emergency calls are way up at our local Bright Now! Dental, Monarch Dental and Castle Dental offices," adds Dr. Crim. "At this time, we are only providing essential and emergency care and have consolidated operations into a limited number of locations to manage to make sure we have the staff available to manage all the requests."
Crim says if someone is experiencing a dental emergency, he/she can call the numbers below and staffers will help assess the patient's needs and help him/her locate the nearest available office.
1-888-274-4486
1-800-666-2724
1-800-867-6453
