Dental Emergencies: Children vs Adults
Appointments with dentists can be a scary experience even for adults, so it is completely normal for children to get scared just from the thought of having to visit a dentist to check if everything is under control. This is a problem as many parents decide to ignore dentist appointments in order to make their children feel less sacred, but this is a bad decision as dental emergencies with children are completely different when compared to adult cases, starting with the fact that the younger the patient is, the more patient and understanding the professional should have.
While it is true that all dental care has the same goal in mind, convincing any child that dental hygiene and appointments are important is not easy at all, but that does not mean that parents have to give up, in fact, they should be wary, as many complications could come from this kind of neglection. The following article focuses on discussing the impact of dental emergencies on children vs adults.
DENTAL EMERGENCIES CHILDREN VS ADULTS:
Let’s start with the fact that younger patients should have access to a more careful, thoughtful, and charming dentist that specializes in working with children as many tools and resources used in the dental care industry are extremely scary, and the fact that the simple contact or touch in the mouth could hurt a lot, everything could crumble in a matter of seconds.
On the other hand, adults should not be as scared as the previously described patients for the fact that they will have more experience, allowing them to be more mentally prepared for the situation as they will understand with words and explanations what is wrong with their teeth and how everything can be fixed.
DURING AN EMERGENCY, THINGS CAN GET COMPLICATED:
However, in a dental emergency, it just does not matter how grown up you are, pain will be experienced as one of the main symptoms, and while adults can do their best to hold the pain and stay calmed and focused, children will find this as something impossible to do, and they will start screaming, crying or anything else that can make the situation a lot worse.
As a parent, it is easy to think that during an emergency things will get under control, but in most cases, when children are involved things tend to escalate pretty quickly. Just to see how much of a difference there is during dental emergencies children vs adults, let’s take a look at a list of events that happen during such emergencies to see how both parties behave and what options are available for them.
EMERGENCIES REQUIRE PATIENTS TO KEEP CALM:
Children that are the victim of pain or any annoying symptom involved with dental issues can not stay calm or still, proving to be a problem for the dentists who need to make their job as soon as possible to de-escalate the situation. That is why dentists’ offices for kids are decorated in a different way, they will have access to tools and resources that can help young patients stay under control and prevent them from crying, screaming, closing their mouths, or making sudden moves.
This is not the same with adults, because an adult understands that everything will depend on his/her behavior, and knowing this will make the patient do as much as possible to help the dentist with the procedure by following the indications and providing valuable information on what seems to be wrong.
WHILE THE PATIENTS BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY, THE ISSUES ARE SIMILAR:
It does not matter if the patient is a child or an adult as dental emergencies are developed from similar reasons, it could be things like a dental abscess, decay, toothache from previous procedures or external issues, or anything else. However, what does change is the diagnosis, as children are most notorious for suffering from dental emergencies related to fractures, broken teeth, or knocked-out teeth while adults tend to suffer from more serious issues in the long run, but even the less “complicated” emergency can happen to an adult and worse case scenarios can be seen in children as well that is why a proper dentist and diagnostic is important.
CHILDREN’S PARENTS WILL HAVE ACCESS TO PEDIATRIC DENTISTS:
Having a trustworthy pediatric dentist will save parents a lot of time, stress, and anxiety when it is time to do a check-up with the dentist. Also, having a professional in your contacts helps a lot, because asking the pediatric professional for information about dentists that deal with emergencies is a good idea, this will mean that parents will know where to look when something bad happens.
Adults do not have such an option as they are expected to be ready for any fight thanks to their obtained experience from past situations. However, adults do have access to modern tools that can be used to track any needed resource or professional in the area when something bad happens, and knowing how to drive or having friends that can be called is a plus, so there is nothing to fear.
DURATION OF CHECKUPS IS DIFFERENT:
Dentists must make extra exams and tests on children’s mouths to see that their baby teeth are as healthy as ever to guarantee that the adult teeth will grow up to be strong enough. That is why you can see how much time young patients consume in the office or during a checkup while on the other hand adults’ visits tend to be a lot shorter since everything will be sorted out almost from the beginning.
Also, just like it was explained before, young patients tend to be a little bit complex to work with since they can get scared and bored, preventing the professional from completing the job and thus consuming more time than what was expected. Sadly, for these cases there is not much that can be done, the dentist needs to show off the skills and experience to deal with younger patients while being careful and gentle at all times to reduce the possibilities of having to deal with a complicated checkup.