Dentistry in the Hospital Emergency Room (ER)

Abstract

Diagnosis and treatment of dental-related symptomology should be conducted with the understanding that dental conditions may influence the course and conduct of medical therapy. Many people with severe orofacial pain and/or swelling come to the local hospital ER for treatment of dental problems. The economics of health care in the United States is burdened by high-cost hospital ER dental visits largely by poverty level patients having few treatment options and limited opportunities for follow-up care. The aims and objectives of this article are to address utilization and policy concerns of the increasing use of the hospital ER for preventive and emergency dental visits. The article identifies what constitutes an “acute dental emergency” and promotes alternatives for dental treatment. The demography of patients seeking dental treatment at the hospital ER is described along with the growing concerns about the effects of this practice on the health care system. The authors provide recommendations for positive change in the existing environment of the provision of dental services by the hospital ER. The policy of governments at all levels, in the best interest of the public health, should address and provide for emergency dental care. The Federal Government should provide alternatives to the hospital ER dental visit by poverty-level patients with low cost insurance plans that mirror the medical coverage for everyone taken by “Obama care”.

Keywords: Hospital ER, Dental emergency, Socio-Economic Status (SES), Obama care