The most common complaint of dental patients reporting to sickcall is a toothache or facial pain caused by a cavity, inflammation of the tissues supporting the tooth, trauma, or oral lesions.
Proper treatment is based on a correct diagnosis.
The GMO should treat the patient's signs and symptoms and if possible, the cause of the emergency. The following guidelines are provided to assist in the diagnosis and management of dental emergencies. The GMO should keep in mind that the patient might not be able to identify which tooth is hurting, the pain may be referred from one area to another, and the pain may not be odontogenic in origin. In addition, the teeth should be evaluated for pain when they are individually percussed with the handle of a dental instrument. The following is a differential of the most common dental emergencies.