Despite how vital one's oral health is to their overall wellness, it is not uncommon to find numerous individuals that would rather live with a dental issue than pay a visit to the dentist, and this is due to various reasons. Undoubtedly, this averseness to dental clinics largely stems from the fear of pain but this is a gross misconception. The reality is that deferring your dental appointments is more likely to cause you severe pain than seeing this professional since the dentist will not only treat your current oral ailment but will also advise you on how best to avoid the same problem in the future. Thus, when faced with a dental emergency such as a knocked-out tooth, a dental abscess, and so on, you must seek emergency care post haste. If you have been under the impression that the only consequence you will have to face is contending with recurring pain, check out the following hazards you will be at risk of when you undervalue the need for emergency dental services.

Pervasive bacterial infections

Your teeth are not just strong so that you can chew food. Instead, their tough outer layer also has a protective function that keeps microbes from breaching the teeth. However, when you develop an untreated cavity of a crack in your tooth, it leaves room for bacteria to make its way into the affected tooth and this can cause a dental abscess. Dental abscesses refer to pockets of pus that need to be drained professionally to ensure the infection does not spread. When you put off seeing an emergency dentist, the abscess can rupture and this allows bacteria to spread to other parts of your body. Thus, rather than simply having to deal with a dental infection, you may have to contend with an infection in your jawbone, your neck or even your head.  Rather than put yourself at the threat of sepsis, it is critical to seek emergency dental care immediately.

Irreparable nerve damage

If you acquired an oral injury that left you living with a chronic toothache only for this discomfort to dissipate on its own, you could be happy that you are finally out of the woods. But this would be a false sense of security. What you need to know about the pain that accompanies dental emergencies is that it signifies the affected nerves are in working order. When you keep putting off a visit to an emergency dentist to the point that the pain goes away, it does not necessarily mean that you have healed from the trauma. Instead, it is usually indicative of extensive nerve damage, which happens when the pulp in the tooth is infected. Left unchecked, the nerve damage can lead to a loss of taste and numbness that can rob you of your facial expressions. Not to mention the looming threat of tooth loss too. To avoid these dire consequences, you must seek emergency dental care the moment you require it.