Urgent cares definitely have their limits, especially with dental stuff. I remember one time a kid came into our office after visiting urgent care for a chipped tooth. The parents were pretty stressed because urgent care basically just gave them ibuprofen and said "see a dentist ASAP." Turns out, the tooth had fractured deeper than it looked, and waiting even a day or two could've made things worse. Thankfully, they made it in quickly, but it made me anxious thinking how easily that could've gone sideways...
Honestly, dental emergencies—especially in kids—can escalate fast. It's not always obvious what's serious and what's minor, even to medical professionals who aren't specialized in dentistry. I get why urgent cares do what they do, but it does make things tricky for worried parents trying to figure out the best next step.
"Honestly, dental emergencies—especially in kids—can escalate fast. It's not always obvious what's serious and what's minor..."
I totally get where you're coming from, but sometimes I wonder if we parents might be overthinking it a bit. Last summer, my daughter fell off her scooter and chipped her front tooth pretty badly. Of course, it was a Saturday afternoon (because these things always happen on weekends, right?), and our dentist was closed. We rushed to urgent care, and they basically gave us the same advice—ibuprofen and see a dentist ASAP.
At first, I was frustrated too, thinking they weren't doing enough. But honestly, the ibuprofen helped manage her pain until Monday morning when we got into our regular dentist. Turns out it wasn't as serious as it looked, and the dentist said waiting a day or two didn't make much difference in our case.
I guess what I'm saying is that while urgent cares aren't perfect for dental stuff, sometimes their cautious approach isn't necessarily a bad thing. It can feel stressful in the moment, but maybe it's better than them trying to handle something they're not specialized in? Just my two cents...
I hear you, but have you ever had a tooth knocked completely loose? My son took a baseball to the mouth during practice once, and the tooth was literally hanging by a thread. Urgent care just shrugged and said the same thing—wait for the dentist. Luckily, our dentist squeezed us in that evening and managed to save it. I get being cautious, but sometimes waiting really isn't an option, you know?
Totally get your frustration—did urgent care even mention storing the tooth in milk or saliva to keep it viable? Sometimes those first few minutes make all the difference. Glad your dentist stepped up quickly, though...sounds like you got lucky there.
"did urgent care even mention storing the tooth in milk or saliva to keep it viable?"
Honestly, you'd think urgent care would be better trained on basic dental emergencies by now. Milk or saliva is such a simple tip, yet it can literally save a tooth. When my grandson knocked his tooth out at soccer practice, thankfully his coach knew exactly what to do—popped it right into a cup of milk. Dentist said that quick thinking made all the difference. Glad your dentist was on the ball too...sounds like you handled it well despite everything.
