Had a bit of a stressful weekend...my 6-year-old took a tumble off his scooter and chipped one of his front teeth pretty badly. It was bleeding a little, and he was obviously upset, but it wasn't like, you know, crazy serious or anything. Still, it was Saturday afternoon, and our regular dentist was closed. I panicked a bit and ended up taking him to the ER because I wasn't sure what else to do. We waited forever (typical ER stuff), and they basically just checked him over quick, gave us some pain meds, and told us to follow up with our dentist on Monday.
Anyway, talking to my sister later, she said when her daughter had something similar happen last year, she called around and found a pediatric dentist who had emergency weekend hours. They got her in right away, fixed the tooth temporarily, and it was way less stressful overall. Honestly didn't even cross my mind at the time that dentists might have emergency hours.
So now I'm wondering...if your kid has a dental emergency like this on a weekend or after-hours, do you usually head straight to the ER or try to find an emergency dentist? I'm thinking next time (hopefully there isn't one!) I'd probably try the dentist route first. But maybe there's advantages to the ER I'm not thinking about? Curious what other parents have done in these situations and how it worked out for you.
I totally agree that a pediatric dentist is usually the better route for something like this. ERs are great for serious medical stuff, but dental issues aren't really their specialty. When my daughter knocked out part of her tooth last year, we called our regular dentist's after-hours line first—they had a recording with an emergency number for a pediatric dentist who was on-call. Got us in within an hour, fixed it temporarily, and gave us clear instructions for follow-up care. Way less stressful than waiting around the ER...
That's really reassuring to hear. My son chipped his tooth pretty badly yesterday, and we were debating whether to head straight to the ER or try a dentist first. Honestly, the ER always feels like such a gamble—long waits, stressed-out staff, and you're never quite sure if they'll even have the right tools for dental stuff. Your experience makes me feel better about trying the pediatric dentist route first. I didn't even think about checking our regular dentist's after-hours line for an emergency number... that's a great tip. Fingers crossed we get someone as responsive as you did. Thanks for sharing your story—it helps ease some of my anxiety about this whole thing.
We went straight to the ER when my daughter chipped her tooth last year, and honestly, it wasn't as bad as you're describing. They gave her something for pain quickly and referred us to a dentist the next morning. Guess it depends on your local ER...
