Dental emergencies are any injuries to the teeth, mouth or jaw that require immediate treatment to prevent further complications such as uncontrolled bleeding, severe pain or broken facial bones. They are often regarded as the most serious type of oral health problem and they can be very distressing and painful. Fortunately, prompt and effective treatment is available in a Geneva emergency dentist.
As the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic took effect in Switzerland all elective treatments were suspended and dental professionals were only authorized to treat emergency cases. In the meantime patients were advised to avoid all non-urgent dental treatment for as long as possible. However, the law allows private practices and clinics to resume treating non-urgent cases as of 27th April 2020.
Our Geneva emergency dental clinic is a great place to go for any emergency dentistry needs, and we can offer same-day consultations. However, what constitutes a dental emergency? A common misconception is that toothache is an emergency, but this is not always true. Toothache is usually not an emergency, but the best thing to do is contact us and let us know when you are having a toothache so that we can schedule an appointment for you as soon as possible.
The aim of the study was to retrospectively evaluate and compare a sample of patients who consulted for a dental emergency during the COVID-19 confinement with a matched case-control group treated in the same time period in previous years. The focus was on evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 confinement on the number and nature of emergency consultations, including a higher rate of severe cases that consulted after an extended delay from the onset of symptoms. The results showed that the COVID-19 confinement did not lead to an increase in the number of emergency consultations, but there was a change in emergency consultation types and patients waited less time from the onset of symptoms before contacting their dentist. Moreover, it was also demonstrated that more than 28% of dental emergency visits did not have any other procedure performed and that most procedures that were conducted during dental emergency encounters were diagnostic in nature (mainly radiographs). This supports the idea that dental emergency services can be used as a pathway to more definitive dental care for patients. Furthermore, these findings are consistent with contemporary research that was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic that found that 65% of urgent dental appointments resulted in definitive treatment within 30 days. The article is authored by Dr. Thomas Weyl. He is a General Dentist at Rhone Dental Clinic in Geneva and has a special interest in trauma and emergency dental care. He has been involved in clinical research since 2001 and is a member of the Swiss Society for Dental Traumatology. He has presented his work internationally and has published several scientific articles in various journals. His main areas of research are in trauma and reconstructive dentistry, with particular emphasis on temporomandibular joint function and osteoarthritis.urgences dentaires geneve