Abstract
Dental emergencies are the most common reason for consultation in hospital emergency departments. Although they rarely induce life-threatening risk, some clinical forms require immediate treatment. The main categories are pain, trauma, infection and haemorrhage. Some of these “pathologies” require comfort and reassurance rather than real emergency treatment, and as a result, emergency services are somehow jammed due to the volume of consultations. This paper aims at assisting the emergency Doctor in distinguishing those dental emergencies that can be treated from those which require the intervention of a dental specialist in order to improve treatment for patients. Six categories of treatment have been reviewed : oro-dental pain, alveo-dental trauma, infectious diseases, haemorrhage, TMJ problems, oral mucosal pathology induced by a prosthesis or orthodontic appliance. Dental problems such as uncemented prostheses, fracture of a prosthesis or painless loss of a dental filling are not included. Treating such problems in an emergency facility may not be considered and can easily be delayed to allow planned treatment.
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